John McCain still really hates science

[ILLigitt]

Originally Posted by Brian

Obama believes that vaccinations may cause autism. Blah!

I remember during the campaign he said something pretty different--in fact, he dismissed that idea. I'll find the quote when I get back (gotta run in a minute), but I seem to remember him being pretty clear on it. The Bad Astronomer quotes it on his blog, actually.

Originally Posted by Brian

P.S. I am interested in knowing more about why you think our planet itself is dying right now. Can you create another thread on that?

I didn't word that very well. I don't think the planet itself is dying, but I would say that we can't sustain our presence on it in the long-term (and that's even without the inevitable population growth, which makes things even more dire). Our relationship with our planet is dying.

Originally Posted by Brian

Also don't forget the balance between abstract and application. The balance needs to be about equal - you can't just do abstract all the time.

When I say "abstract" I mean theoretical things, like physics, logic (philosophy), etc. "Theory" may be a better word: theory is exponentially more important than application. For example... the architecture of bridge-building. It's better to have no bridge than a bridge built on faulty math.

Good theory is a necessary condition for good application. Application can't function until you have theory, but it's better to do nothing than to do the wrong thing. In that sense, the scales should certainly be tipped toward the abstract.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by ILLigitt

I remember during the campaign he said something pretty different--in fact, he dismissed that idea. I'll find the quote when I get back (gotta run in a minute), but I seem to remember him being pretty clear on it. The Bad Astronomer quotes it on his blog, actually.

Actually I found Obama's quote on it on many websites - looks to be his pretty much only statement that angered a lot of folks in the scientific community.

I didn't word that very well. I don't think the planet itself is dying, but I would say that we can't sustain our presence on it in the long-term (and that's even without the inevitable population growth, which makes things even more dire). Our relationship with our planet is dying.

OK, that's different. But don't you think we should do more to fix our relationship than go to another planet and kill that one as well?

When I say "abstract" I mean theoretical things, like physics, logic (philosophy), etc. "Theory" may be a better word: theory is exponentially more important than application. For example... the architecture of bridge-building. It's better to have no bridge than a bridge built on faulty math.

Good theory is a necessary condition for good application. Application can't function until you have theory, but it's better to do nothing than to do the wrong thing. In that sense, the scales should certainly be tipped toward the abstract.

I understand what you mean - but honestly again it still has nothing to do with said prior points. It's like me saying that yeah astronomy is great but remember astronomers also use to think the world was flat ... not really relevant. I don't think you're trying to argue that the bridge in the stimulus package uses faulty math?

On another unrelated note - I'm sorry to say I'd also disagree with you on the "it's better to do nothing than to do the wrong thing". At some point, risk must be taken. Not all theories can be proven as true prior to applying them. As you know, many positive strides with science have been made with doing the wrong thing. Sometimes that's the only way to find what's right. But, again, unrelated.

And on another even more completed unrelated note ... Always keep in mind that thinkers (aka analyzers, aka high abstract peeps) never made good leaders of people. It's actually the doers (aka applying peeps) that make the best leaders of people. But that's all in the psychology of leaders and leadership - just thought that was interesting. Guess that's why the abstract people really don't make it to President. I guess it's nature's way of balancing things a bit.