Many times Scientists complain of the tedium of their work, is this diavlog meant to share that misery?

Quoting SkepticDoc: Many times Scientists complain of the tedium of their work, is this diavlog meant to share that misery?

ouch. just...ouch.

Just a quickie add to the Vampire geekiness list - "The Lair" on the gay cable channel HERE! - in it's second season. I haven't seen it since I don't have the channel but figured it's worth a mention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lair

Ed: Be careful what u ask 4. It may come back 2 hawnt u.

ouch. just...ouch.

Completely disagree. I was delighted to see Abby again, happy to meet Ed, and I thoroughly enjoyed this diavlog.

It's great to actually hear your voices, and the discussion was quite interesting. I also was interested to hear Abby talk about the naming of ERVs. If either of you makes it to SciOnline09, see ya there!

Quoting thprop: [...]

I think that's uncalled for, thrprop. I call upon you to edit your post and delete your first two sentences.

1. Words we can all agree upon. 2. There is something really jarring about hearing someone with a highly refined accent saying, "I'm a huge Buffy fan." I guess I should check that show out -- thanks for the Hulu tip, Abby. 3. Semi-serious: Abby, I think you're entitled to conduct your one-woman campaign against the apostrophe. However, I do think you're making a mistake about this. Though you say that your blog isn't serious, it's clear you want your writing to be taken seriously. For better or for worse, many people form a first impression of the worth of a piece of writing from such things as spelling errors, improper punctuation, refusal to use capital letters appropriately, and so on. Consequently, when you want to comment on a scientific issue, you're starting yourself off with a strike against you in many people's minds. Not that they're right about this, this is just the way it is. So, you're letting one of your causes hurt another. It's the same principle as, say, choosing a black pen instead of a purple crayon when addressing a envelope containing a business letter. First impressions last. I'd also say that as a scientist, you ought to appreciate the additional precision that

Quoting bjkeefe: I think that's uncalled for, thrprop. I call upon you to edit your post and delete your first two sentences.

I have to say that my first visual impression, before listening, was that the contrast between the zipped up Ed and the inviting Abby led me to speculate that a vampire would have little trouble choosing which neck to bite. Discretion may be the better part of valor... but this is nearly as much a visual medium as a marketplace of ideas. I respect your point about decorum, but to ask for a retraction or edit raises further questions. Quote:
It's the same principle as, say, dressing appropriately when going to a job interview. First impressions last.

Why then is it inappropriate to comment on appearance? I'm not defending thprop, just interested in this situation.

Quoting bjkeefe: Completely disagree. I was delighted to see Abby again, happy to meet Ed, and I thoroughly enjoyed this diavlog.

Some minds are more easily amused than others...

Quoting graz: ... a vampire would have little trouble choosing which neck to bite.

Heh.

Quote:
It's the same principle as, say, dressing appropriately when going to a job interview. First impressions last.

Argh. I wish I had chosen a different example for my other comment. Maybe I'll change it. (ed: I did.)

Why then is it inappropriate to comment on appearance?

I'm not defending thprop, just interested in this situation.

I'm not sure how to state this precisely. It's not much more than "I know it when I see it." I will give a few thoughts, but I hope you will understand them to be fragments, and not really a complete and coherent argument. -- There's just something awfully iffy about commenting on someone's appearance when that's not what he or she is there to offer (as opposed to, say, beauty pageant participant, model, exotic dancer, etc.), given how many problems we have with this in our society. -- The poor taste of such a comment is compounded when its intent is to attack, demean, or dismiss, though I don't mean to suggest that remarks purportedly intended as compliments are therefore closer to being acceptable. -- Both of these apply to remarks made about men as well, of course, but they're particularly loaded given our society

Quoting SkepticDoc: Some minds are more easily amused than others...

Perhaps. Another possibility is that some minds are more open than others, or are more broad in what interests them.

Quoting SkepticDoc: Many times Scientists complain of the tedium of their work, is this diavlog meant to share that misery?

Says the jealous physician with no imagination. *buuuuuurnsauce*

Quoting bjkeefe: I'm not sure how to state this precisely. It's not much more than "I know it when I see it." I will give a few thoughts, but I hope you will understand them to be fragments, and not really a complete and coherent argument.

-- There's just something awfully iffy about commenting on someone's appearance when that's not what he or she is there to offer (as opposed to, say, beauty pageant participant, model, exotic dancer, etc.), given how many problems we have with this in our society.

-- The poor taste of such a comment is compounded when its intent is to attack, demean, or dismiss, though I don't mean to suggest that remarks purportedly intended as compliments are therefore closer to being acceptable.

-- Both of these apply to remarks made about men as well, of course, but they're particularly loaded given our society and how many problems we have had along these lines, especially as women seek to be treated as equals based on their intellect and education.

-- In and of itself, thprop's remark was not the worst thing in the world. The problem, in general, with allowing such statements to stand in an online forum where people are

I love this. So I have inspired a LOLversion of myself, given someone a geekgasm, amused a few others and annoyed at least one person. Excellent. My work here is done.

But this attitude is reflective of a common trait in the larger world. In most every environment, men and women are sizing each other up, and often comment freely. We are hard-wired for this, no?

Maybe, but this comment was still nasty, rude and sexist. It's also cowardly, considering Thprop is hiding behind online anonymity. Imagine a public lecture where the speaker called on "Thprop" in the Q&A, and he said, "First off, I want to compliment you on your great tits." He'd be immediately recognized by the public as a sexist idiot, and the behavior would not be tolerated. I'd be in favor of kicking him out of the lecture hall. Why hold him to a lower standard here?

Quoting Wonderment: Why hold him to a lower standard here?

I don't feel particularly inclined to. But part of the peculiarity of this forum is that we can continue this thread without throp ever responding. So I am a little uncomfortable with a blanket condemnation and conviction without a little give and take.
I could argue that the remark was somewhat less stark than your hypothetical characterization. Not by much if you really distill it... but what value does "throwin' the bum out" provide beyond immediate gratification? I respect your high standards, but I am more comfortable allowing for a retraction, apology or possible (?) defense.

Quoting graz: I am in complete agreement with you on all those points. I think that the participants deserve the respect you suggest. What an uphill battle though. Especially if extended beyond the limits of this forum.

I have read many other forums in this past election cycle that were rife with comments solely regarding appearance or attractiveness. Particularly referencing Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. The remarks always seem to strike an off-note or beg the question of relevance.

While not excusing the remarks made about HRC's and SP's physical appearances, I'll point out that your first paragraph speaks to part of the difference: HRC and SP were not our guests, so to speak. There is also a sense of remove, it seems to me, that marks a another difference. During a political contest, the candidate is somewhat of an abstraction, and people will talk -- positively or negatively -- about all sorts of things as part of their fervor to support or diminish that candidate. (Again, this doesn't completely excuse it.) And speaking of politicians, here's an example that illustrates another distinction: political cartooning. It's considered fine to exaggerate physical features as part of a caricature in a piece of

*buuuuuurnsauce*

??? What does that mean? The conversation was scientifically accurate but boring. Maybe ERV could have commented on the Caucasian trait that gave some resistance to bubonic plague when that was a selective factor, and how that same genetic trait provides some Caucasians with resistance to the HIV infection. Those same traits would have been transferred to a bone marrow transplant recipient... Of course if one is interested only on the virus, that would be boring too..

http://scienceblogs.com/erv/2008/11/...ts_as_a_cu.php Pro-Tip: Scandinavia isnt Caucasia.

Oh Goody... A flame war/catty fight! http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47746 http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16660399 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15830584

The 32 basepair deletion in the gene for the human chemokine receptor CCR5 (delta32ccr5) conferring resistance against HIV-1 infection is present in Caucasian populations. The mutant allele is believed to have originated by a single mutational event in historic times and to have reached its present population frequency of an average 10 % in Europe through selective pressure by a pathogenic agent.

We therefore conclude that the medieval Plague pandemic has not contributed to an increase in the allelic frequency of the mutant delta32ccr5 allele and that, if there has been a positive selection of this allele, it is likely to have occurred before the 14th century and thus before the arrival of the Plague in Europe.

In your infinite knowledge you could have corrected the misinformation... I'm not an Anthropologist, but aren't Scandinavians part of the Caucasian set? If we go far back enough, we all came out of Africa, didn't we?

Waiting 20 years to have Abigail Smith on again would be an excellent idea.

Quoting Magic Flea: Waiting 20 years to have Abigail Smith on again would be an excellent idea.

I agree, if we define 1 year to be 1 x 10^14 nanoseconds long.

I dunno about this. After reading two of Pinker's books on language, I'm beginning to think that some of elements of formalized grammar might be better seen as training wheels used to teach the differences between the meanings and cases etc., that can then be discarded once we get to a certain level of grammatical mastery and/or depending on the circumstance of what you are writing. We have all seen those examples where a paragragh intentionally has lots of grammatical and spelling errors, yet the reader has no troubling deciphering the intended meaning. To me this is illustrative of the brain's amazing ability to make incredibly complex calculations based on context and previous experience to "get the jist" of the message. I think grammar should still be taught, and for anyone who is looking to achieve maximum clarity (writers etc.) would still want to use apostrophes, but I can definitely see why in many situations it really doesn't matter since the communication is succesfull despite grammatical miscues. Note: I didn't read Abi's blog yet, and i have always been somewhat apostrophobic, myself.

I think grammar should still be taught, and for anyone who is looking to achieve maximum clarity (writers etc.) would still want to use apostrophes, but I can definitely see why in many situations it really doesn't matter since the communication is succesfull despite grammatical miscues.

An apostrophe has nothing to do with grammar. It is a spelling convention. Children know perfectly well how to form plurals (cats) and possessives (the cat's or the cats') long before they can read or write. In other words, they have mastered the grammar before they learn to spell. Spelling reform is a whole different ball game. For example, we would get along fine without uppercase/lowercase distinctions. Hebrew has no lowercase at all. German uses uppercase for all Nouns. Spanish has no uppercase adjectives (words like marxista and americano), whereas English does (Marxist and American). Spelling reform has not made much progress in the USA since Webster went from labour to labor. For example, "nite" and "alright" are not gaining much ground. On the other hand, txt mssging cld chng all tht. Pinker, by the way, has said added nothing to the debate on prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar. Linguists have accepted the Pinker view universally for

I must admit I was totally thrown when Ed first spoke with such a heavy Brittish accent. As much as there is no reason an Asian man with a Brittish accent should be a big surprise, I still found one of those moments where my mind was caught off guard based on faulty presumptions. But it brought to mind a great use of that same phenomenon in one of my favorite movies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0QKTT0YbRQ So far, I have only been able to watch bits and pieces of this diavlog, but I have enjoyed it so far. Ed, welcome, I look forward to checking out your book. Abi, hopefully you won't be scared off by less-civil comments. Hope you both come back soon.

Wonder, to clarify I was pointing to Pinker's influence on MY thinking on the matter, not the linguistic establishment. Though it has been my impression that Pinker has been pretty relevant in countering much of Chomsky's framework which had been considered "gospel" for a long time (though I'm no expert.) On an tangent: I did think that Pinker's revelations on the nature of physical characteristics of objects and how they help to explain why many of the grammar's irregularities aren't so illogical, were pretty unique.

Heh. As you might expect, I get this a lot. Worst example: an American kid who, when hearing the name of the British town I live in, said "So where in China's that?". Best example: an Australian man who saw the Asian face and heard the British accent and put two and two together and came up with Hong Kong. Which, while still a FAIL, was actually not unreasonable.

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: We have all seen those examples where a paragragh intentionally has lots of grammatical and spelling errors, yet the reader has no troubling deciphering the intended meaning. To me this is illustrative of the brain's amazing ability to make incredibly complex calculations based on context and previous experience to "get the jist" of the message.

Well, yes. But it's also a measure of how much redundancy is built into the language. And, as you say, you get the gist. (As I got the jist from your paragragh.) However, one has to work a little harder when the writer does not make use of the full spectrum of agreed-upon conventions -- it takes longer to read, there are more possibilities for misunderstanding, and in the end, it's just plain annoying to be wrong when you know how to do it right. As I said in my opening salvo, it's not necessarily true that there's anything admirable about being put off by incorrect writing; it's just a fact of life that some people will respond that way. I'm a Miss Thistlebottom. What can I say? If your aim is to reach me, this is an easy thing to

I hope Abby does come back, she has great potential. Unsolicited advice: She should keep PZ Myer at a distance
She should try to listen to veteran diavlogers and emulate them Society needs basic Scientists that can communicate their findings effectively.

Quoting SkepticDoc: She should keep PZ Myer at a distance

Why? ... <-- extra spaces inserted to satisify vBulletin's silly minimum post length requirement.

Quoting SkepticDoc: I hope Abby does come back, she has great potential.

Unsolicited advice:

She should keep PZ Myer at a distance
She should try to listen to veteran diavlogers and emulate them

Society needs basic Scientists that can communicate their findings effectively.

I'm not sure why but I tend to agree with you on all items. Besides, since you joined the group "¨Se acabó la rabia" I think I have the moral obligation to give you my support. How about that for a brief come back? Aloha!

Very nice people these two. Vampires? HIV what??? Very nice people these two. Giving advice about what? Perhaps next time these two very nice people can focus a bit more, so that some of us can enjoy the science. Just a small request...

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/sp...s_metaphor.php http://www.samefacts.com/archives/re..._sacrilege.php

Quoting SkepticDoc: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/sp...s_metaphor.php

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/re..._sacrilege.php

Good articles. Thank you Skeptic! The articles express the principles of tolerance, anti-dogma, respect for others and their beliefs and calls for a more abstract non-judgmental attitude towards the stories that people create to explain and interpret the unknown. I would love to hear what others think.

Quoting Ocean: The articles express the principles of tolerance, anti-dogma, respect for others and their beliefs and calls for a more abstract non-judgmental attitude towards the stories that people create to explain and interpret the unknown.

I agree. Well said, Ocean. Thanks for the links, Skeptic Doc. I like PZ and think he does some good work, but I have to admit that many of the outspoken athiests cross over into bigotry with their bashing of religious people.

Quoting TwinSwords: I agree. Well said, Ocean.

Thanks for the links, Skeptic Doc. I like PZ and think he does some good work, but I have to admit that many of the outspoken athiests cross over into bigotry with their bashing of religious people.

Thank you Twin. I don't know PZ, so I can't opine. I realize that we often embrace ideas that help us to move forward, even when we see that they are not the absolute or final truth. That's why it's important to leave room for uncertainty and dissent. From time to time is good to retreat and re-examine those ideas. I'm learning to appreciate more those who remind me about this and those who challenge my ideas and make me think harder about them. Success may not be guaranteed. It's a learning process. But hey! it's progress! Beautiful sunny day around here today.

Quoting TwinSwords: I agree. Well said, Ocean.

Thanks for the links, Skeptic Doc. I like PZ and think he does some good work, but I have to admit that many of the outspoken athiests cross over into bigotry with their bashing of religious people.

Free Will... Synchronicity indeed.
PZ Meyers: A..hole or truth-teller?

Quoting graz: Free Will... Synchronicity indeed.
PZ Meyers: A..hole or truth-teller?

Yes, I just finished listening to Free Will. Quite a coincidence! I wouldn't even try to answer your question. But I will point out that the way you are articulating the question is problematic. As it was pointed out by Will and Paul, the context in which an opinion is expressed will have an influence. You may be more balanced or neutral with your students and more 'partial' when you are with your friends. It depends on the role you are assuming. Many people decide to be the voice of dissent, the rebellious one. They are more radical in their views. Others will take a more balanced and 'central' role. The same person may be more radical in some aspects and very neutral or conservative in others. I'm guessing that PZ needs to take on a more radical, defiant or provocative role. It serves a purpose. It provokes certain reactions and that's what he is looking for. Political correctness or diplomacy wouldn't create that effect. Others can take on the diplomat's role. That's all.

Quoting Ocean: Yes, I just finished listening to Free Will. Quite a coincidence!

I wouldn't even try to answer your question. But I will point out that the way you are articulating the question is problematic. As it was pointed out by Will and Paul, the context in which an opinion is...

I agree. It's not a either/or question. It could be neither as well. But to some extent he is playing a role. The performance obviously has varying effect on the observers, depending on their prior inclinations.

Quoting graz: I agree. It's not a either/or question. It could be neither as well. But to some extent he is playing a role. The performance obviously has varying effect on the observers, depending on their prior inclinations.

OK. Got to add something:

Quoting Ocean: Good articles. Thank you Skeptic!

The articles express the principles of tolerance, anti-dogma, respect for others and their beliefs and calls for a more abstract non-judgmental attitude towards the stories that people create to explain and interpret the unknown.

I would love to hear what others think.

I liked that PZ did that thing with the wafer. It showed how ludicrous some religious people can be in mistaking symbol for substance.

Quoting bjkeefe: I liked that PZ did that thing with the wafer. It showed how ludicrous some religious people can be in mistaking symbol for substance.

Some of these actions could be classified as psychopathic, borderline personality manifestations (there are more knowledgeable forum members, they will correct me if I am wrong). There is a price/cost for living in a civilized society, there has to be mutual respect among all the members, a rusty nail through some objects could be dismissed as theatrical attention seeking, but where do we draw the line? Is urinating on a tomb in the cemetery offensive? productive? Like burning the flag of a nation? If we intend to win the hearts and minds any group, we have to be respectful and just plain "nice" IMHO It takes longer but it is more effective in the long run, just imagine if most people accepted that we only have one life to live without an afterlife, how many religious wars could be avoided?

Quoting SkepticDoc: Some of these actions could be classified as psychopathic, borderline personality manifestations (there are more knowledgeable forum members, they will correct me if I am wrong).

There is a price/cost for living in a civilized society, there has to be mutual respect among all the members, a rusty nail through some objects could be dismissed as theatrical attention seeking, but where do we draw the line? Is urinating on a tomb in the cemetery offensive? productive? Like burning the flag of a nation?

If we intend to win the hearts and minds any group, we have to be respectful and just plain "nice" IMHO

It takes longer but it is more effective in the long run, just imagine if most people accepted that we only have one life to live without an afterlife, how many religious wars could be avoided?

Your last question seems to contradict the rest, in spirit at least. That aside ... I agree that there's a lot to be said for being polite in a mixed society, and that this includes being respectful of others' traditions even if you don't believe in them. I myself do not spend a lot of

In the medical field there is a term- "Evidence Based" In simple terms, apply the scientific/rational method to the practice of Medicine, how many people have been "enlightened" to secularism following PZ? My un-scientific analysis would bet that Michael Shermer has done more for secularism than PZ. "Pharyngula" is just preaching to the atheist choir, just like the "Church of Satan" has a buffoon minister, the strident atheist scientists have their counterpart in the Minnesota professor.

Quoting SkepticDoc: "Pharyngula" is just preaching to the atheist choir ...

That's okay. That's how you get them to sing.

Quoting SkepticDoc: In simple terms, apply the scientific/rational method ...

My un-scientific analysis would bet ...

I think we can leave it there.

Quoting bjkeefe: That's okay. That's how you get them to sing.

I think we can leave it there.

Time will tell who is in the right track...

Did not mean to create such a brouhaha. Abbie does not post her own picture on her blog. You can see her dog. Her readers are always asking her for a picture. My comment was a poor attempt to comment on her fans' desire to see her. Not well phrased - and now edited.

My comment was a poor attempt to comment on her fans' desire to see her. Not well phrased - and now edited.

Thank you, Thprop, for listening, acknowledging and responding.

Quoting Wonderment: Thank you, Thprop, for listening, acknowledging and responding.

What Wonderment said.