[Coral-List] Sea Angels and Mermaids

[David M. Lawrence]

But the discussion seems to have pulled back toward the center itself -- 
I don't mean to be self-promoting, but one of my posts comes to mind. 
Many of the responses to the "offending" posts made valid points that 
affect how we conduct education and research.

When you compare this one off-the-rails thread to others that repeatedly 
appear on this list, such as the canard that concern over AGW is driven 
by a cabal of scientists whose sole interest is scaring the masses into 
giving them research monies, I fail to see how the one is relevant and 
the other is off-topic.

Both of the "offending" lines of discussion are equally based on poor -- 
or plain wrong -- interpretation of the available data without adequate 
consideration of alternative (and usually better) hypotheses.  But as 
the responses to those threads come in, the alternative (and better) 
hypotheses usually prevail, and we all usually end up learning 
something.  Kind of like what happened when we (well, some of us) 
watched the old Bill Cosby cartoons.

Hey, hey, hey...

Dave

EAH wrote:
> Discussing the research isn't what happened, though.  In an email or two 
> it had devolved to "men kill; women nurture", a trope which I would hope 
> everyone agrees is patently ridiculous and which was appropriately 
> called out.  I am glad the intersection of science and politics will 
> continue to be discussed here, but that particular thread was off the rails.
> 
> Carry on,
> Em
> 
> On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 11:32 AM, David M. Lawrence <dave at fuzzo.com 
> <mailto:dave at fuzzo.com>> wrote:
> 
>     We could just get back to "science" if science operated in vacuum.  It
>     doesn't.  It is a social endeavor, a human endeavor, and the reasons why
>     we do science is as important as how we do it and what questions we ask.
>      For some, coral research may be merely an academic enterprise.  For
>     others, it might be they love an excuse for being at sea.  For still
>     others, they may be passionately concerned with the fate (and
>     management) of one of the Earth's most fascinating ecosystems.
> 
>     The "why" bits spill out into ways that people of differing genders view
>     the world -- or have been taught to view the world.  For instance, I
>     believe there is research to the effect that men tend to be more
>     reductionist, whereas women tend to be more holistic in how they view
>     environmental systems.  These differences affect how the research is
>     done, how the results are interpreted, and how the information obtained
>     is used to manage limited resources.
> 
>     And questions of opportunities granted to aspiring researchers in a
>     field are always relevant.
> 
>     Later,
> 
>     Dave
> 
>     Eugene Shinn wrote:
>      > When the Coral-List began it was intended as a way for scientists to
>      > communicate with other scientists. What happened? Its now Sea Angels,
>      > Mermaids, politics, and advertisements for coral management (social
>      > engineering) jobs. What ever happened to coral reef research? Can't
>      > we get back to science and away from all this moralizing? Gene
> 
>     --
>     ------------------------------------------------------
>      David M. Lawrence        | Home:  (804) 559-9786
>      7471 Brook Way Court     | Fax:   (804) 559-9787
>      Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: dave at fuzzo.com
>     <mailto:dave at fuzzo.com>
>      USA                      | http:  http://fuzzo.com
>     ------------------------------------------------------
> 
>     "We have met the enemy and he is us."  -- Pogo
> 
>     "No trespassing
>      4/17 of a haiku"  --  Richard Brautigan
>     _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do 
> something about its width and depth."

-- 
------------------------------------------------------
  David M. Lawrence        | Home:  (804) 559-9786
  7471 Brook Way Court     | Fax:   (804) 559-9787
  Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: dave at fuzzo.com
  USA                      | http:  http://fuzzo.com
------------------------------------------------------

"We have met the enemy and he is us."  -- Pogo

"No trespassing
  4/17 of a haiku"  --  Richard Brautigan