it was my cup of tea, I love the scientific debate of creation vs evolution, but after wading into several of the threads, i quickly learned by lesson and began staying away. Too bad because there were a couple of people honestly willing to debate, but most just wanted to attack and make fun of anyone who had beliefs other than evolution.
I am a lot happier on the political threads now
although this one is seriously interfering with my life outside free republic - i never did get caught up last night!
That's my story too.
I'm here because I just had to post on a thread that is even longer than the evo/crevo foodfights!
I would love to talk science. I even used to be a member of the American Society for the Advancement of Science, back in the 80s. But the warfare that took place made it hard to discuss why you thought someone’s research was good or stupid, or what the implications of something was. I just decided that this probably wasn’t the best forum for that type of discussion, read the articles and went on to other things.
It’s like the futility of trying to discuss climate change. Climates change. We don’t understand why, exactly, in all details. But it is soooooo politicized, it’s hard to honestly talk about the mechanics of it without running into junk science and the religion of environmentalism and those who are reacting against the religion of environmentalism.
I feel betrayed by those who have stolen science, which is a method of gathering information and studying it, and turned it into several different belief system, some flavors which have not a lot of connection to truth. I’m not sure which is worse, positivism or Gaia worship. Both stop true inquiry because of the mental blockers.
Before we moved, I was volunteering as a cataloger in a FS technical research library (empty nest time, and I was free to stretch my wings!). There’s so much good hard science out there about the environment, and land management and related issues. But it doesn’t make the news. And what’s worse is that the underlying assumptions of the environmental movement are starting to color the research decisions instead of pure investigation. And when that happens, you get more problems.
GIGO, garbage in, garbage out, is a fact of reality.
But maybe I’m just a knowledge idealist. I believe in the pursuit of truth. And what the truth is, it is.
Pope Benedict, back in his pre-Pope days said “Truth is not determined by a majority vote.” But there are sure a lot of people who want it to be so.