Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site uwmacc.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!dubois From: dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (Paul DuBois) Newsgroups: net.origins Subject: Pinking Shears Update Message-ID: <888@uwmacc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 12-Apr-85 12:16:21 EST Article-I.D.: uwmacc.888 Posted: Fri Apr 12 12:16:21 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 15-Apr-85 02:57:34 EST Distribution: net Organization: UW-Madison Primate Center Lines: 77 Well, I noticed that none of you seemed to think very much of my submitting the interview relating to the scissoring incident, so I wrote to Norman Macbeth to see if I could oblige you further. --- Dear Mr. Macbeth, I have recently begun to read your work concerning the status of Darwinism (Yale Review, Darwin Retried, Systematic Zoology, and Towards). I have found your writing quite instructive and valuable. Let me admit that in large measure this is because I am a creationist. I am writing as a consequence of recent events transpiring in an origins discussion in which I am a participant. This discussion takes place via the medium of an electronic "bulletin board" on a network connecting several computers, and allows each participant to read the contributions of others, as well as to submit articles of one's own for consideration by the rest of the community. A short while ago, "the most horrible anecdote of all" which you had mentioned in the Towards interview was mentioned (briefly) by another creationist. (The incident in which Brady's article was scissored out of Systematic Zoology.) As you might guess, the immediate reaction by one of the evolutionists was "give me evidence of this event". I then submitted the text of the anecdote in order to document the incident. This was not (as you might also guess) received very well by the evolutionary participants. The responses were on the order of "one bad apple doesn't spoil the whole barrel" and "this is not evidence", the reason for the latter being that the specific Ivy League college and the name of the department head were not mentioned. In other words, they didn't believe it, and the implication was, of course, that the whole thing was made up to make evolutionists look bad. (In some respects this is a justified inference; regrettably, creationists do on occasion fail to follow the requirements of good scholarship. But as the anecdote was yours, and as you are not a creationist, I consider the conclusion invalid.) I imagine that you did not give specific details, in order to afford a certain measure of anonymity to the person who did the scissoring; however, I would like to be able to document the event to the satisfaction of those who find the anecdote suspicious. Would you be willing to divulge the name of the college involved or the name of the person, or both? I appreciate that this is a rather delicate matter, and I understand completely any reluctance you might have. It seemed pretty clear, however, that I certainly would not gain any information by not asking! I thank you for such time and assistance you think appropriate to devote to this matter, and look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Paul DuBois --- I received a reply yesterday which I will pass along. He said that the incident is indeed a delicate matter, and for that reason, he has forwarded my letter to the professor who originally informed him of it. He didn't know what the professor would do or say. If I get something, I'll let you know. At this point, I almost expect to see a reply on the order of "oh sure, you SAY you wrote to Macbeth", or "sure, he SAYS he forwarded the letter, but how do we know?" Strictly speaking, you don't. But do you REALLY think that the whole thing is just made up? Granted, it's just a single incident. But some of the replies to previous articles seemed to me to imply that the entire thing is a fabrication. -- | Paul DuBois {allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!dubois --+-- | Science is Dead. |