[Vision2020] Anonymous Comments on Daily News Website

Joe Campbell joekc at adelphia.net
Fri Dec 21 21:20:00 PST 2007


Jeff,

Your post was a bit incoherent. For instance, you wrote:

Gary Crabtree made two simple statements:

1. "As if good scientists made up their own data in the laboratory!"

2. "Why the very notion that data might be faked  by Scientists must be preposterous."

Both are instances of sarcasm, so it is not explicit what statements Crabtree made. Maybe
I’m wrong but (1) suggests:

(1*) Good scientists make up their own data in the laboratory,

which is incomplete. SOME good scientists or ALL? Similarly, (2) suggests:

(2*) Data might be faked by scientists.

Again, SOME data or ALL? SOME scientists or ALL? You should be interested in the 
claims since you’ve stated that economics is a science. Did Crabtree say that you make 
up data? Are you making up the very claims in your last post, for instance? Did he say 
that data is faked – ALWAYS – by you? Luckily you don’t think that either logic or 
philosophy is a science, so I remain unscathed in your eyes and in his!

If Crabtree thinks that SOME scientists fudge data, then I agree! But who cares. Some 
economists beat their wives but not much follows from this unfortunate fact, nothing that 
I could pin on you or economists in general.

Thus, your claim that “Neither statement could be reasonably argued that Crabtree was 
asserting that all science was fudged” is false, for Crabtree’s claims – as you quote them 
– are ambiguous and at least one interpretation suggests that ALL science is fudged. The 
other interpretation is a sad but obvious and meaningless truth. Maybe that is what 
Crabtree meant. Maybe your comments here are in support of the sad, meaningless, 
unfortunate truth that some scientists fudge. What is even sadder is that this Friday 
night – which you could have spent with your family – was wasted on such an endeavor.

Andreas beat me to the bunch but, yes, I’m willing to bet that no more than 5 biologist 
reject evolution theory. The bet is on. Name them or pay up. (And I hope that you have 
enough integrity to abide by Andreas’s criteria – but honestly I doubt it!)

Best, Joe



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