>
>>Chris
>>To be fair to Bertvan, I think she's talking about the political
>>shenanigans at Baylor, not any alleged "science" that may be involved.
Richard:
>No, I think Bertvan was trying to cast aspersions on the value of the
>scientific work of academics generally. All scientific work involves
>interpretations. If the public accepts Bertvan's assertion that the
>interpretations of scientists cannot be trusted, then public understanding
>of science will become a free-for-all, where people pick and choose whatever
>bits of science or pseudoscience suit their personal prejudices. This what
>Bertvan does, and she wants others to do the same.
Bertvan:
You are absolutely right, Richard. Many people believe whatever the
"experts" tell them to believe. You'll find them in Doctors waiting rooms
eager to ingest the latest "happy" pill the drug companies have for sale.
They paid a fortune for psychiatrists to investigate their mysterious ID, ego
and super ego, and damaged psyche with which " psychiatric science" had them
convinced they were afflicted. Having been convinced by "science" that they
have no free will, they became the victims of their genes and their
environment. Even rapists relax convinced their behavior is the logical
result of random mutation and natural selection. Great numbers of women who
believed the "experts" suddenly retrieved repressed memories of sexual abuse
that occurred before the age of one year. They had their appendixes and
adenoids removed and underwent hysterectomies for no reason. They fed their
babies bottled milk, rather than nursing them. They were bled by leeches.
They accepted social Darwinism, and sterilized people in the name of
eugenics. They recognized meteorites as a hoax. (How could rocks fall from
the sky?) They accepted the scientific judgement that women were mentally
inferior to men. They used cocaine to treat morphine addiction, heroin to
treat cocaine addiction and methadone to treat heroine addiction. They are
confidently waiting for a treatment of methadone addiction. They give Ritalin
to hyperactive children, confident the drug companies will discover a
treatment for Ritalin addiction. They were told that that masturbation,
condoms and suppressed sexual fantasies cause impotence, consumption,
paralysis, seizures and insanity. They were told homosexuality was a mental
illness caused by a dominant mother and an absent father. Thousands of
people were unknowingly subjected to harmful, government-sponsored,
scientific medical experiments. Surgeons performed thousands of lobotomies
before anyone noticed the harm they were doing. For a while the tobacco and
pesticide industries had no trouble hiring scientists who assured the public
their products were safe. Whether the Icons of Evolution turns out to be
valid or not, I suspect Richard is incensed that Wells should write such a
book - convinced we would all be better off if such frauds and
misrepresentations continued to be printed in biology books. Above all, I'm
sure Richard wishes there were some way to force those rebellious individuals
in the former colonies to accept "chance and natural selection" as the
explanation of evolution. :-)
The vast majority of the time science is man's most shinning accomplishment.
However, the difference between science and pseudo science is often not
apparent until later, and scientists are as susceptible to pettiness and
personal prejudices as anyone else. I listen with interest to what the
"experts" say, but if it defies common sense, as does "chance and natural
selection" as an explanation of evolution in the opinion of many people, I'll
keep hoping someone comes up with a more reasonable explanation.
Bertvan:
http://members.aol.com/bertvan
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