Re: Bogus Barney

Dan Clemmensen (Dan@Clemmensen.ShireNet.com)
Tue, 26 May 1998 19:55:34 -0400


Joe E. Dees wrote:
>
> > EvMick wrote:
> > > If this is true. Then it appears to me that the dinosaur hypothosis has a
> > > problem.
[SNIP]
> > > One minor quibble. I think we have fossils of bones. Not the same thing.

> It appears that a closet creationist has infiltrated the extropian
> ranks. Next, we'll hear that the world started in 6000 b.c. and that
> God buried fake bones with divinely doctored carbon-14 signitures in
> order to test our faith!
>

Joe, Ev has been on this list for a long while. As far as I know, he's
always raised interesting questions and has always been extremely good
at dialogue and discussion, as opposed to rancor, rehetoric, and
name-calling. (I suspect from his background that he can be extremely
effective at name-calling if he chooses to be.)
He does not try to put words into other people's mouths
and then riducule those words. He has an interesting and pragmatic
point of view and is generally a solid reasoner. When he asks a
question, it's usually a good one. This question, concerning
allometry as applied to dinosaurs, is in fact valid. In general,
It is counterproductive to denigrate someone's post if you don't
understand what the person meant by the question. It just upsets
everybody without actually contributing to the discussion. A better
approach is to ask for a clarification.

I assumed that Ev is asking whether or not we actually know the
microstructure of dinosaur bones.