[snarks_when_bored]

"Connaitre" vs. "Savoir"--their knowledge is based on revelation, not experiment.

As such, science has no method for distinguishing the genuine from the garbage(*)--and in some cases the signal to noise ratio appears so high that it is tidier to place a kibosh on the whole business...

Indeed...which is why trying to dress up Biblical stories as scientific theories is such a crock. Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't alter the pig-icity of the pig. (BTW, I think you meant that the signal-to-noise ratio appears so low, but I take your point, g_w.)

[snarks_when_bored]

A clarification: the remark about 'lipstick on a pig' was not meant to suggest that Biblical stories don't have many valuable qualities. My only point was that such stories are not, nor were they ever intended to be, scientific theories.

[grey_whiskers]

I think you meant that the signal-to-noise ratio appears so low, but I take your point, g_w.)

Watch me wriggle out of this one :-)

Depends on whether you are looking for pearls of wisdom or scanning with a B.S. detector--are you a believer or a skeptic?

And to complete the analogy to pigs, since we are using Biblical references, how about a reference to "pearls before swine" (ducks for cover while running for exit...)

Cheers!