Re: Sagan, Velikovsky and *mail problems*

Dan Hook (guldann@ix.netcom.com)
Thu, 10 Jul 1997 21:10:20 -0400

> From: Mark Grant <mark@unicorn.com>
> Date: Thursday, July 10, 1997 3:46 PM
>
> So why the hostility? I see no reason to believe Velikovsky's theory, but
> while it's highly improbable, it's certainly possible. Unlike, say, the
> perpetual motion folks, Velikovsky has claimed nothing that breaks any
> known law of science. So why is it that mention of him causes such a
> knee-jerk reaction from so many people?

"There's this thing called being so open minded your brains fall out."
Richard Dawkins

There are a large number of things that are highly improbable. So
improbable in fact that they can be assumed not to have occurred, unless
there is extremely good evidence otherwise. I would bet my life (and that
is not a statement I make lightly or often) that there is no good evidence
for Velikovsky's theory. It would be about as probable for a fully formed
bacteria to suddenly appear on replicator-less Earth because free floating
lipids, amino acids, nucleotides, and sugars all just collected in the
right place at the right time by random chance.

Dan Hook
guldann@ix.netcom.com