Posted on 04/19/2002 3:19:18 AM PDT by Vigilant1
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:20 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
OSLO, Norway -- Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer who crossed the Pacific on a balsa log raft to prove his theories of human migration, has died at 87.
Heyerdahl, whose book "Kon-Tiki" on the daring 101-day voyage sold millions of copies, stopped taking food, water or medication in early April after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. He died Thursday night in his sleep at home in Colla Michari, Italy, said his son, Thor Heyerdahl Jr.
Heyerdahl had been hospitalized near there in late March when he became ill over the Easter holiday.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Nobody commented because Mr. Hyerdahl was not a dog or a cat. He probably wouldn't have taken the easy way out anyway. Why would he want to wimp out at 87 when he never did during the rest of his life?
I doubt the Dutch allow this for non-citizens.
"Wimp out"? You have no idea what pain really is,do you? You make these HorseHillary statements based on your religious superstitions,and you want the rest of the world to have to suffer along with you.
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So you think they would have prosecuted him?
No doubt that Thor Heyerdahl's adventures were both interesting and hazardous.
But from an objective perspective, his "conclusive proof" is pure junk science.
Fabricating "evidence" is not "proof".
The only "proof" we can ever obtain lies in whatever archaeological artifacts and manuscripts we can recover.
Many things will never be known conclusively.
That said, Thor Heyerdahl: RIP. You made some entertaining documentaries.
Is that supposed to be funny?
For what? For something that couldn't have happened because he wasn't a Dutch citizen,and couldn't fullfill the requirements?
I had no idea you were clarivoyant. Could you please give me Saturday's lottery numbers?
It has been proven that providing terminal patients with enough painkiller to make them comfortable restores their will to live. Legalized euthanasia is not the answer. Revamping the archaic narcotics laws that allow the DEA to destroy any physician that they accuse of "overprescribing" narcotics to terminal and chronically in pain patients IS the answer.
Heroin is the most effective pain reliever ever invented, but its use is no longer allowed in legitimate medicine becaue of "War on Some Drugs" dementia.
Euthanasia is only the answer for people who love death.
Now you know,so you won't have this excuse in the future.
Could you please give me Saturday's lottery numbers?
Yes,I could,but I won't. You're too snotty.
It has been proven that providing terminal patients with enough painkiller to make them comfortable restores their will to live.
Try to sell this HorseHillary to people who don't know better. There is a level of pain that can only be defeated by sedating the patient to the point where he don't even know what he is,much less if he hurts. People this heavily sedated have no idea if they are fire,much less if they want to live.
Legalized euthanasia is not the answer.
It IS a answer to people who want it,and who have no desire to bankrupt their families while putting them through a living hell,all for no good reason other than to satisfy the religious prejudices of others.
Revamping the archaic narcotics laws that allow the DEA to destroy any physician that they accuse of "overprescribing" narcotics to terminal and chronically in pain patients IS the answer.
I surely can't argue that the above IS ONE answer,even if it's not the only one. Who the hell cares if somebody in severe pain who is dying becomes addicted to the drug? What possible difference could this make?
Heroin is the most effective pain reliever ever invented, but its use is no longer allowed in legitimate medicine becaue of "War on Some Drugs" dementia.
Well,to be fair,I think it was banned from use long before the current insanity became so prevalent. I THINK that prohibition may go all the way back to the "Reefer Madness" days of the 30's.
Euthanasia is only the answer for people who love death.
This is a political/religious stance that has nothing at all to do with reality. Nobody loves death,and there is nothing to prevent healthy people from comitting suicide any time they want. The problem is with severely ill people who are in severe pain who no longer have the ability to do this for themselves,and who may be forced to suffer against their will due to these archaic laws. Euthanasia shouldn't be forced on anybody,but it SHOULD be a option for any terminally ill person who wants it. This is the ultimate "personal choice" issue.
NEXT!?
Funny how "personal choice" always revolves around killing, isn't it? Abortion is a "personal choice." Euthenasia is a "personal choice."
And you say you don't love death.
However, to prove that it actually was done, one needs to have the evidence you spoke of.
Thus, his voyages proved it could be done, which negates the impossibility argument. When people, including scientists, believe something is impossible, they will tend to go to great lengths interpret away evidence which tends to prove that it happened.
That is why you shouldn't dismiss his work as irrelevant.
If he had failed and lost his life at sea, would that have proved it impossible?
No.
The "impossibility" arguement had no sound scientific basis.
It was merely a matter of conjecture on the laws of probablity that govern the struggle of Man vs. the forces of Nature.
Thor Heyerdahl's accomplishments were indeed remarkable and admirable.
But they are not "sience".
Similar junk science is pursued today, most vividly involving speculation regarding the method of constructing the Pyramids. Like many, I find the various clever approaches tested by archeological enthusiasts and broadcast on the Discovery or History channels to be fascinating and educational entertainment. But I don't regard it as "science". Proof will only come from hard archeological evidence, if such proof still exists.
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