Proof by intimidation

Proof by intimidation

Proof by intimidation is a jocular term used mainly in mathematics to refer to mathematical proofs which are so complex, so long-winded and so poorly presented by the authors that others are simply forced to accept it, lest they be forced to sift through its minute details. [cite journal
title=Cogno-Intellectualism, Rhetorical Logic, and the Craske-Trump Theorem
url=http://www.es.ele.tue.nl/~tbasten/fun/rhetoric_logic.pdf
author=Michael H. F. Wilkinson
journal=Annals of Improbable Research
volume=6
issue=5
pages=15–16
accessdate=2008-02-22] The term is also used when the author is an authority in his field presenting his proof to people who respect "a priori" his insistence that the proof is valid or when the author claims that his statement is true because it is trivial or because he simply says so. Usage of this term is for the most part in good humour, though it also appears in serious criticism. [cite journal
title=Richard Feynman and computation
url=http://www.quniverse.sk/buzek/zaujimave/p257_s.pdf
author=Tony Hey
journal= Contemporary Physics
volume=40
issue=4
pages=257–265
date=1999
accessdate=2008-02-22
doi=10.1080/001075199181459] [cite journal
title=“Hand Waving” the Physics of 9/11 (letters to the editor)
url=http://www.journalof911studies.com/letters/e/hand-waving-the%20physics-of-911-by-david-griscom.pdf
author=David L Griscom
journal= Journal of 9/11 Studies
date=2007-02-08
accessdate=2008-02-22] More generally, "proof by intimidation" has also been used by critics of junk science to describe cases in which scientific evidence is thrown aside in favour of a litany of tragic individual cases presented to the public by articulate advocates who pose as experts in their field. [cite journal
title=Junk science: Appearances can be deceiving
url=http://jada.ada.org/cgi/reprint/134/7/802.pdf
author=Marjorie K. Jeffcoat
journal=Journal of the American Dental Association
volume=134
pages=802–803
date=July 2003
accessdate=2008-02-22]

Gian-Carlo Rota claimed in a memoir that the term 'proof by intimidation' was coined by Mark Kac to describe a technique used by William Feller in his lectures. ["During a Feller lecture, the hearer was made to feel privy to some wondrous secret, one that often vanished by magic as he walked out of the classroom at the end of the period. Like many great teachers, Feller was a bit of a con man." cite book|title=Indiscrete Thoughts|author=Gian-Carlo Rota|id=ISBN 0-8176-3866-0|publisher=Birkhäuser |location=Boston |url=http://www.lapasserelle.com/escem/finance1/02_probabilities/william_feller.htm|date=1996]

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