RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Fox News vs. NPR (was "MoveOn.org")

["Spurling, Shannon" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

" Bull.  Actually, let me state that more elegantly: the trailblazers
in most sciences only got where they were by doing exactly what you
suggest nobody does.  That said, there is a *very* strong "show me"  
belief among scientists, and a tendency not to believe everything
you see the first time you see it.  Are there petty and stupid
political games played in the sciences?  Oh yeah; in spades.  As far
as external politics goes, I'd say hard scientists as a group are
well to the right of literature profs, but they do have their "hot
button" issues.  The Republican party has managed to chase more than
a few biologists away with their recent warm embrace of the
"evolution is just a theory" position."

Well, what about Superstring theory? Physics had a genuine problem, and
someone realized a disturbingly elegant solution. He was all but laughed
out of the field. There are several other controversial issues just like
that. The big bang was one such theory. Now it's sacrosanct. Too often
the scientist emotionally invests him self in his favorite theory. I was
always told to question every thing, and assume nothing. We used to
laugh about it in my engineering classes. Every time we would use an
assumption to simplify a problem we just couldn't help laughing at the
idea on some physicist turning over in his grave.  

Shannon Spurling
WAN Engineer -Specialist

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