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View Full Version : Cheers for the attitudes of real scientists



Rich
2005-Jul-22, 01:56 PM
Experts Question Existence of Rare Woodpecker (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8664383/)

OK, I'm sure that there might not be many people who care about the ivory billed woodpecker and whether it has been found or not. But the article very nicely highlights how real scientific investigation works and puts the lie to the claims of the anti-scientists.

A particular snippet gives a sense of how proper science works. When asked about questions or doubts other researchers have expressed one of the key authors responded:


“We would have been disappointed if there was no close scrutiny by the scientific community,” Bruce said Thursday in a telephone interview. “This is not surprising at all that we have controversy. It’s the process. It should definitely be going through this.” =D>

Huh? What? I thought all scientists were arrogant know-it-alls that shout down any opposition! Even the folks questioning the claims are polite:


.... [scientists] challenging a blurry video cited by other scientists as showing a clip of one bird, saying the four-second image does “no more than suggest the possibility” that the bird still exists.

“I am certainly not saying that ivory-billed woodpeckers are not out there,” Jackson said Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “I truly hope that the birds do exist in Arkansas.”

AAAAAH! They're going to tear each other apart!!! I can just see this guy Jackson tracking Bruce down with a camera and trying to make her swear on a bible that she saw an ivory billed woodpecker in the wilds of Arkansas. When she refuses, he'll start screaming that she is a liar. We all know what will happen then. Now does Jackson look like an even bigger jerk than B.S. when he gets hit by a female researcher rather than an astronaut?

Oh wait. That probably won't happen. #-o These are reasonable, reasoned people. People who gather, analyze, and present evidence... not engage in cheap tactics designed to generate a few book and video sales. I love these people!




Hmmm, I just had a thought thought. BA, I'll track you down on camera and scream that you are a liar and let you deck me really good (I can take a hit and know how to stage a big fall, you'd swear I was a professional athlete the way I'll overplay how hard you drop me). I'll then post my video "expose" of you on the internet demonstrating what an "Evil" Astronomer you are. Afterall you did hit me... and you keep claiming to have seen Lenin or the Devil on your shower curtain once. What more evidence does a good internet conspiracy monger need? When your popularity immediately skyrockets and you sell more books I just want a cut. I'm not greedy... make me an offer, and we'll work something out. 8)

Rich
2005-Jul-22, 02:11 PM
Doh! (http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=21340)

#-o

Moose
2005-Jul-22, 02:15 PM
What, someone beat you to that conspiracy? :-s

( :wink: )

Rich
2005-Jul-22, 02:21 PM
What, someone beat you to that conspiracy? :-s

( :wink: )

I don't get it.

Moose
2005-Jul-22, 02:31 PM
Ah well, it was a pretty weak joke anyway.

You were talking about creating a big conspiracy, and in the next post "doh"ed like you'd been Toseeked (which you had been.) I merely "mistook" what you'd gotten Toseeked about.

Rich
2005-Jul-22, 02:35 PM
Ah well, it was a pretty weak joke anyway.

You were talking about creating a big conspiracy, and in the next post "doh"ed like you'd been Toseeked (which you had been.) I merely "mistook" what you'd gotten Toseeked about.

OK... now I get it. Somehow it's actually funnier once you explained it. Normally the opposite is true (a joke gets less funny when it has to be explained). Strange, but funny.


Yeah, only sort of ToSeeked though I think. Got ToSeeked on the debate about the ivory billed woodpecker, but not about the point of my post; which is the attitudes of researchers on both sides.

And my offer to the BA will stand. He can hit me (for a cut of his book sales) anytime.

Swift
2005-Jul-22, 03:00 PM
Rich, my comments about Dr. Jackson's thoughts are in the other thread, so I won't repeat them.

I think you meant well, but my first take on the title of this thread was that you were insulting the scientists who reported finding the Ivory-billed, saying they were not real scientists. I'm sorry if that is not what you meant. I think you are saying that real scientists, the ones on both sides of the Ivory-billed woodpecker finding, debate the evidence back and forth; unlike some of our ATM friends.

(edited to remove a confusing sentence)

Rich
2005-Jul-22, 03:05 PM
Rich, my comments about Dr. Jackson's thoughts are in the other thread, so I won't repeat them.

I think you meant well, but my first take on the title of this thread was that you were insulting the scientists who reported finding the Ivory-billed, saying they were not real scientists. I'm sorry if that is not what you meant. I think you are saying that real scientists, the ones on both sides of the Ivory-billed woodpecker finding, debate the evidence back and forth; unlike some of our ATM friends.

(edited to remove a confusing sentence)

Exactly. I heavily utilized some sarcasm and that may have muddled the point I was attempting to make.

Laser Jock
2005-Aug-02, 05:37 PM
No doubt this time (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/08/02/woodpecker.question.ap/index.html)


Audio recordings of the ivory-billed woodpecker's distinctive double-rap have convinced doubting researchers that the large bird once thought extinct is still living in an east Arkansas swamp.