Posted on 04/02/2006 2:57:40 PM PDT by wagglebee
What would happen if a world-renowned scientist and evolutionary ecologist told hundreds of his colleagues that 90 percent of the human race needed to be wiped out by exposure to ebola or some other deadly virus?
Apparently, according to a scientist who claims to have witnessed such a remarkable event one month ago, the fiend would get a standing ovation and an award.
Forrest Mims III |
That's the story being told by Forrest Mims III, a member of the Texas Academy of Science, chairman of its environmental science section and editor of the Citizen Scientist.
The speech Mims heard was delivered by Eric R. Pianka, a lizard expert from the University of Texas. It is recounted in detail in the latest issue of the Citizen Scientist.
"We're no better than bacteria," Mims quoted Pianka as saying in his condemnation of the human race, which, he claimed, is overpopulating the Earth.
The only way to save the planet for the rest of the species is to reduce the human population to 10 percent of its current number.
Eric R. Pianka |
"He then showed solutions for reducing the world's population in the form of a slide depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," writes Mims. "War and famine would not do, he explained. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved. Pianka then displayed a slide showing rows of human skulls, one of which had red lights flashing from its eye sockets. AIDS is not an efficient killer, he explained, because it is too slow. His favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world's population is airborne Ebola (Ebola Reston), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years. However, Professor Pianka did not mention that Ebola victims die a slow and torturous death as the virus initiates a cascade of biological calamities inside the victim that eventually liquefy the internal organs."
Mims notes that when Pianka finished his remarks, the audience of fellow scientists and students burst out in sustained applause.
During a question-and-answer sessions, the audience laughed approvingly when Pianka offered the bird flu as another vehicle toward achieving his goal. They also chuckled when he suggested it was time to sterilize everyone on Earth.
"What kind of reception have you received as you have presented these ideas to other audiences that are not representative of us?" asked one member of the audience.
"I speak to the converted!" Pianka replied.
Mims said he spoke glowingly of the police state in China that enforces a one-child policy.
"Smarter people have fewer kids," Mims quoted Pianka as saying.
Following the question-and-answer session, Mims says "almost every scientist, professor and college student present stood to their feet and vigorously applauded the man who had enthusiastically endorsed the elimination of 90 percent of the human population. Some even cheered. Dozens then mobbed the professor at the lectern to extend greetings and ask questions."
Mims notes five hours later, the Texas Academy of Science presented Pianka with a plaque in recognition of his being named 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist.
"When the banquet hall filled with more than 400 people responded with enthusiastic applause, I walked out in protest," he writes.
Mims, an electronics author, has written some 60 books that have sold 7.5 million copies.
The first link is to Mims again.
The second link is broken.
The third link is to a page that does not advocate killing 90% of people.
So, until further results are in; this is still Mims's claims. (He may be right, but I would like the hear the prof's actualy words; not what Mims wants us to think the prof said.)
He is discussing the methods of nature in reducing large populations not suggesting that there be an extermination by other men.
It is the results of observing biological processes without considering that mankind is more than just a biological process.
Oookay. Good luck with that.
Isn't this the plot of a Tom Clancy book?
We know Forrest Mims personally. He is an unconventional genius and iconoclast. He is extremely principled and truthful to a fault. You can trust this account implicitly. It will be humorous to see how the insane professor and the UT regents try to defend the indefensible once again.
"We're no better than bacteria," Mims quoted Pianka as saying....
Well, considering his audience, he might be right.
"Just to see if he's part of the solution or part of the problem."
The fact that he's alive proves he is part of what he defines as a problem. Strange how these folks never volunteer to quit life in an effort to save the earth. It's just really hard to find committed environmentalists these days isn't it?
"Family
Forrest & Minnie, Eric & Jane, Micheal & Vicki and Sarah. "
He has 6 kids himself but thinks everyone else's should die?
He would have fit in nicely in 1940's Germany.
>>
That probably goes too far, but a planet with only 1 billion people, like it was in 1900 would be a lot more comfortable.
<<
I'll get to work on taht tonight.
Larry Niven was a visionary.
Depends which billion you end up with, who's in charge and how they are distributed.
Also, more people permit economies of scale that allow developments that would be unfeasible or impossible with fewer end users. You'd eventually have had personal computers and an internet, but it would have taken longer. A lot, lot longer. But, hey, the pony express worked just fine, and dentistry wasn't all that much more painful than today, right?
Yes we do, it's Pianka.
"We're no better than bacteria," Mims quoted Pianka as saying in his condemnation of the human raceThe-Tragedy-Of-Applied-Logical-Fallacies PING!Evolution ping!
Economies of scale was a part of the old industrial system, like big cities.
Today, with CAD/CAM and rapid prototyping what is available are products as individualized as under the old craftsman system at industrialized prices.
Your thesis is perfect for the last millennium.
So9
This has to be an April Fools hoax.
Why?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.