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Joe Campbell leaps to the fringe again - thin ice for sure.<br><br>
Gary Crabtree made two simple statements:<br><br>
1. "As if good scientists made up their own data in the
laboratory!"<br><br>
2. "Why the very notion that data might be faked by Scientists
must be <br>
preposterous."<br><br>
Neither statement could be reasonably argued that Crabtree was asserting
that all science was fudged. Nor can he be accused, legitimately,
of arguing for the hypothesis that given the 10 links provided as
examples of false science, he is making a claim that all science is
fudged. <br><br>
Cynical - yes; sarcastic - absolutely; skeptical - right on.<br><br>
Another example of Joe Campbell arguing the straw man.<br><br>
Gary Crabtree is right in the context of his post. Science can be
trusted, as long as it is verified. Replication upon replication is
essential - and the more a scientific result challenges a paradigm, the
more necessary is the verification.<br><br>
An interesting point - note that Joe Campbell states:
<dl>
<dd>The history of science is extensive and glorious. The case for
evolution theory is great, also, which is
<dd>why the number of biologists working in the area who reject it can be
counted on one hand. It would take a billion examples to prove Gary
Crabtree's point, and I don't see that coming any time soon.
</dl>Anyone want to bet that more than 5 scientists (biologists) can be
found that reject evolution theory? I would have thought that Joe
Campbell would be more careful with his unfounded assertions.<br><br>
Happy holidays to all ......<br><br>
At 06:39 PM 12/21/2007, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Crabtree's comments and links
are misleading. He notes 10 links. Suppose <br>
there were 100 instances in which scientists fudged data. Should we
conclude <br>
that ALL scientists fudge data or that SOME do?<br><br>
I could come up with countless instances in which Pastors have made
things <br>
up in order to convince their followers -- for nothing more than economic
<br>
gain. Does that mean that ALL religion is hogwash? That all Pastors are
out for <br>
nothing other than selfish financial gain? That Christianity is built
upon a <br>
thrown of lies? Of course not.<br><br>
On the whole, science offers the best model of objective knowledge that
we <br>
have. It is not perfect and scientists are not perfect. But to think that
ALL <br>
scientists who endorse evolution theory are biased -- or, more to the
point, to <br>
think that Crabtree's 10 links support this claim -- is absurd.<br><br>
If Crabtree was trying to establish the claim that scientists are biased
on the <br>
basis of his 10 links, then he is guilty of the fallacy of small sample.
I would <br>
say the same for anyone who tried to make a similar claim about religion
<br>
based on 10 links -- which is easy enough to do. The history of science
is <br>
extensive and glorious. The case for evolution theory is great, also,
which is <br>
why the number of biologists working in the area who reject it can be
counted <br>
on one hand. It would take a billion examples to prove Crabtree's point,
and I <br>
don't see that coming any time soon.<br><br>
I'd contribute to this forum a bit more if I found ONE conservative who
was <br>
willing to call Crabtree on the crap that he continually throws
out.<br><br>
--<br>
Joe Campbell<br><br>
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