Show Me the Body

Scientific American ^ | Wednesday, April 23, 2003 | Michael Shermer

[Question_Assumptions]

I'd love to see Scientific American be this tactful with Creationists.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Some friends of mine from Utah recently informed me they were Jack Mormans.

[Devil_Anse]

Yeti's not going to like this!

What's el Chupacabre? Is it one of those half-sheep, half-man things, like the Grunch? There is a road in New Orleans called Grunch Road. The Grunch is half-man, half-sheep, the descendant of a species born of lonely shepherds' desperation.

[WaveThatFlag]

All of these creatures have a lot in common with our old pal OBL. Nobody can give any real proof that they are alive, but a certain segment of the population clings to the circumstantial evidence. Until I see the video of Osama and Yeti doing the hokey-pokey and holding up a copy of yesterday's newspaper, I'm going to have to trust my instinct that tells me that both no longer exist.

[Physicist]

I'd love to see Scientific American be this tactful with Creationists.

I'd hate to see cryptozoologists push their ideas into the public school curriculum.

[albee]

"Weirdly, "cabre" sounds like a dead goat to me."

Is "cabre's" first name "Mac"???

Inquiring minds want to know!

[Question_Assumptions]

I'd hate to see cryptozoologists push their ideas into the public school curriculum.

Oh, so would I. And I don't particularly want any brand of creationism taught in schools, either. But I would like schools to teach kids the boundaries of theories as opposed to laws and other certainties.

My concern with modern science is that it often creates the illusion of much more certainty than there really is. As the article pointed out, there are creatures which were doubted for a time but which ultimately were shown to really exist. We don't know everything, but some people, particularly those who produce science shows for mass consumption, like to pretend that we do, for certain.

For example, I've watched more that a few dinosaur shows on the various learning channels (TLC, Discovery, etc.) and they now invariably show computer aided reconstructions of ancient species in all their full-color glory, exhibiting all sorts of behaviors, quirks, noises, etc. based on the best guesses of the day. What they fail to mention, in many cases, is that the reconstruction is based on a single specimen that consists of a jaw bone and a half-dozen teeth or something similarly small.

Why is that a problem? Because these guesses aren't always right and once you've inserted a "fact" into the mainstream, you can't get rid of it. Look at T. Rex. Hunter or scavenger? The truth is that there are competing theories. How fast could a T. Rex run? Again, competing theories. And many of the current ones will change over time.

All I'm asking is that publications like Scientific American publish level-headed articles about what we actually know. I've read their articles on both Creationism and the Skeptical Environmentalist and, frankly, I found them both lacking as science. The Scientific American actually did a fairly good job of explaining the issues in this particular case without making statements that are unscientific and which it cannot back up. Given the absurdity of many cryptozoological claims, I think the Scientific American did a very good job of being level-headed and polite and left their ax at home instead of bring it to the grinding wheel. I do honestly wish that they'd show the same decorum when discussing Creationism and the environment instead of becoming the very thing that they are fighting against -- closed minded and dogmatic.

[green team 1999]

calling all art bell listeners!

[Hatteras]

[COBOL2Java]

Oh, I thought this post was about another Tom Daschle speech. Figured he'd be saying that since we haven't produced Saddam's body (and Osama's for that matter) that he was deeply saddened that the President's War on Terror is "failing" or some other such rot.

[COBOL2Java]

Is that Hillary without her makeup?

[Hatteras]

"...eres pendejo"

AM NOT!!!

I'm not fluent but I did work a number of years building houses!

[clamper1797]

In the Santa Cruz mountains of California resides the exceedingly rare hybrid of a mule and an antelope known as the California Coastal Assalope Hornus Dumbilicus. It is the mascot of the Santa Cruz chapter of E Clampus Vitus. It is only seen from time to time usually at remote clamper functions.