As list owner I've been watching with some interest the
development of contributions triggered by Ethan Sudman's request
for a debate on plate tectonics and the subsequent information that
Ethan was involved with, and sympathetic to, a creationist view of
the world.
The Geo-tectonics list is not moderated (or to be more pejorative,
censored) but, as list owner, I've had enough emails over the years
to be aware of the sensitivities of members to traffic that strays off
the point of the list. Consequently, I'd assert that Geo-tectonics
isn't the place to debate the merits of creationism versus plate
tectonics, evolution or any other world view.
However, that's rather avoiding the point of Ethan's original request,
which was for some discussion on plate tectonics from people who
would presumably consider themselves to be extremely
knowledgable in that field.
Some of the initial responses were very much in that spirit and I for
one was grateful to read the contributions to a virtual reading list.
Whether my students will be quite so impressed next semester
remains to be seen. Al McGrew, whilst certainly not avoiding the
creationism issue, gave a great summary of how plate motions
have stood up to recent detailed scrutiny. Let's remember that, in
making his original request, Ethan said that he wanted to listen
and learn, so if we want this thread to continue, lets try to give him
some hard science to think about. If anyone wants to engage in a
full blown creationist debate then I think perhaps Ethan's own web-
based messaging board could be a better place to do it.
Have a good weekend
John
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John Whalley
Lecturer in Structural Geology and Computer Applications in Geology
List owner - geo-tectonics
(http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/geo-tectonics.html)
Tel +44 23 9284 2247 Fax +44 23 9284 2244
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Portsmouth
Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, UK Email- [log in to unmask]
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