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Good Morning Visionaries:<br><br>
A very serious allegation has been leveled against presumably all
doctoral committees in the world: to wit, that Ph.D. candidates must
conform to a "left-wing" agenda, curiously defined as
"humanity is the root of all evil." <br><br>
There is a delicious irony in this ludicrous hypothesis: all theses done
at conservative Christian schools that use Luther's or Calvin's doctrine
of human depravity would have to be declared
"left-wing."<br><br>
Unless the person can support such a comprehensive and breath taking
claim, I think we can all be safe in assuming that U. S. doctoral
committees hold their students to the highest objective standards for
which our graduate schools are world famous.<br><br>
Looking back at my 1973 dissertation on Martin Heidegger, who was the
first Nazi rector at Freiburg University, I'm at a loss how either I or
my committee could have had a "left-wing" agenda.<br><br>
Nick Gier<br><br>
At 08:39 AM 3/31/2007, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>Ted makes an important point about
the political pressures faced by scientists in an academic environment
which encourages if not enforces conformity to conventional wisdom.
The resulting group think is hardly conducive to flushing out truth from
prejudice and presumption. In such an environment where one's doctoral
thesis if it is to be accepted, must tow the left wing, humanity is the
root of all evil paradigm, it is obvious how an aspiring scholar might be
tempted to slant her research to please those who hold her future in
their hands.<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>The university is alleged to be a
place where a variety of views are thoughtfully considered if not
embraced.<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>Would that it were so.<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>-T<br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>----- Original Message ----- <br>
<dd>From:</b> <a href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com">Ted Moffett</a> <br>
<dd>To:</b>
<a href="mailto:nickgier@adelphia.net">nickgier@adelphia.net</a> <br>
<dd>Cc:</b>
<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a> <br>
<dd>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 29, 2007 2:16 PM<br>
<dd>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] Amazonian Deforestation and Global
Warming:Was:Ed theViking, Greenland, and Global Warming<br><br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>Nick et. al.<br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>I'm not sure you should defer to my research on methane and other
global warming impacts of livestock, given the complexity and room for
error on such a difficult subject. But this interesting analysis
that can be read in pdf form at the web link below, that in part examines
cattle raising impacts on the Amazon rain forest, might shed light on
this issue. <br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>I cannot vouch for the correctness of the data and conclusions from
this study presented in 1996, especially given the rapid rate of change
in that area of the world, indeed, all over our planet. However,
this paper reveals the daunting complexity of environmental studies,
while demonstrating the exacting and sobering work that constitutes the
day to day efforts of most scientists, who usually don't have the
inclination to politicise their work, despite the claims of many that the
hundreds of scientists gathering data on global warming have an agenda to
slant their conclusions towards alarmism on human induced global
warming. <br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>Given that scientists sometimes face political, career, or economic
pressures to slant their work, defending the independence of the
community of scientists to present their findings without these pressures
biasing their efforts, is fundamental if the public is to be accurately
informed of major scientific developments that can significantly impact
the world at large, such as climate change from human activity. <br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>Recently on C-SPAN testimony of NASA climate scientist James Hansen
before the US Congress was presented. He mentioned that he thought
the censorship of his scientific conclusions regarding human impacts on
global warming, by the Bush administration, was akin to the censorship of
science in the former Soviet Union. <br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>
<a href="http://philip.inpa.gov.br/publ_livres/Preprints/1996/REPLACE-FEM.pdf">
http://philip.inpa.gov.br/publ_livres/Preprints/1996/REPLACE-FEM.pdf
</a><br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>-----<br>
<dd>Ted Moffett<br>
<dd> <br>
<dd>On 3/15/07,
<a href="mailto:nickgier@adelphia.net">nickgier@adelphia.net</a></b>
<<a href="mailto:nickgier@adelphia.net">nickgier@adelphia.net</a>>
wrote: <br>
<dl>
<dd>Greetings:<br><br>
<dd>I've not seen this message in my in-box, so I'm sending it
again.<br><br>
<dd>I just wanted to verify that my source on methane release from
livestock was from the UN's FAO report that Megan cited. <br><br>
<dd>However, I respect Ted's research and reasoning skills and I would be
happy to defer to his judgment on this issue since he has done more
research on this than anyone on this list.<br><br>
<dd>Thanks, Ted, for making it clear that raising beef cattle, no matter
how they fart, is a terribly inefficient and enviornmentally disastrous
way of getting the protein that we need. <br><br>
<dd>Nick Gier<br><br>
</dl><hr>
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=======================================================</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=2>"Truth is the summit of being; justice is the
application of it to human affairs."<br>
--Ralph Waldo Emerson<br><br>
"Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates in human beings
who represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it."<br>
--Mohandas Gandhi<br><br>
"Modern physics has taught us that the nature of any system cannot
be discovered by dividing it into its component parts and studying each
part by itself. . . .We must keep our attention fixed on the whole and on
the interconnection between the parts. The same is true of our
intellectual life. It is impossible to make a clear cut between science,
religion, and art. The whole is never equal simply to the sum of its
various parts." --Ma</font><font size=1>x Planck<br><br>
</font>Nicholas F. Gier<br>
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho<br>
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843<br>
<a href="http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm<br>
</a>208-882-9212/FAX 885-8950<br>
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO<br>
<a href="http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm<br><br>
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