Dear colleagues,
I believe (sic!) that in this discussion at least three different aspects
have been mixed.
The first one is the purely and solely scientific subject of continental
drift and its (maximum) rate. It is obviously an interesting subject, and
worth discussion in our list.
The second subject is the use (and misuse) of scientific results. If
somebody is afraid that his/her results may be used in a wrong way, he/she
should reconsider the situation, and (in the extreme case), stop publishing
or stop doing research at all! I believe that a few examples exist in the
history of Science. If you think that a question is raised with the sole
purpose to misuse your opinion with falsified, etc. quotations it is up to
you to continue or to stop. I believe that in our list we are following the
rules of correctness and good scientific practice. Thus, as somebody has
said, any polite question deserves a polite and correct answer.
The third side of the discussion are the personal believes of anyone of us.
We surely have on the list Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Judaists,
Moslems, Shintoists, etc. (in the alphabetic order), and this is not our
concern as far as everybody respects the believes of the others, and no
dogmas are affecting the scientific and professional discussion.
Now when we come to personal believes, I would like to point at the
"scientific" believes that very often affect the professional behaviour.
Here we come to science ethics and good (or wrong) scientific practice.
There are already numerous cases (both in other high-respected sciences, as
biology, biochemistry, etc. and in geology) where personal believes reach
the degree to avoid or falsify any evidence that invalidates the beloved
hypothesis, and when the real evidence is replaced by fabricated data.
Recently, two respected professors have been accused to have published more
than 100 (!) papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and all data
inside turned to be the issue of never-made experiments. In their defence,
the scientists in question argued that falsified data have been used in no
more than 90 or 95 papers . . . I believe (and I have told you that about
one year ago) that it is well time to think about honesty, professional
ethics and good scientific practice also in geology, and also, on this list.
Ivan
At 13:38 08.3.2002 'ã.'à“U¸œI +01, you wrote:
>Dear Joe and All,
>thanks for pointing out the potential risks in being open minded (no
>sarcasm!). so how should we handle future questions of creationists?
>even without asking a specific question, any mail on this and other
>lists might be missused simply by joining the list ...
>regards
>robert
>
>>At the risk of filling people's mailbox with needless debate let me
>>clarify two things. First, Ethan's motives for asking this question
>>should be made known to the list. Secondly, I believe that once I made
>>this clear to those on the list that I proceeded to give my own comments
>>regarding plate velocities. It is an interesting topic, but let me also
>>explain something else to those who are naïve about how creationists use
>>these types of discussion. Anything you say or write has the high
>>probability of showing up completely out-of-context in creationist
>>propaganda. Ask SJ Gould or R. Dawkins. I agree that we should try to
>>answer questions when they are asked (no matter who submits them), but I
>>think it is also important to let you know how your answers might be
>>used (or in this case, misused).
>>
>>Cheers
>>
>>Joe Meert
>
>
>--
>*****************************************************
>Dr. Robert Schmid
>Institut für Geowissenschaften der Universität Potsdam
>Mineralogie-Petrologie
>Postfach 601553
>14415 Potsdam
>B.R.D.
>tel. +49-(0)331-977 2910
>fax. +49-(0)331-977 5060
>http://www.uni-potsdam.de/u/Geowissenschaft/index.htm
>
Ivan Zagorchev, Res. Prof., D. Sc., Ph. D.
Vice-President of the Bulgarian National Committee of Geology
Chief Editor of Geologica Balcanica
Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Acad.G.Bonchev str. bldg. 24, 1113 Sofia
fax (00359-2) 724638
E-mail [log in to unmask]
web-site http://www.geology.bas.bg
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