Ichthyic
Posts: 3325
Joined: May 2006
|
| Quote (Wesley R. Elsberry @ June 24 2007,17:33) | | Quote |
Is there a point in this exercise, Wes?
you can go back literally years and see the exact same kinds of information imparted to her on other forums and other threads, and see the endless cycle repeat itself over and over.
|
I've been using Hyla versicolor as a remedy for ignorance since at least 1995, long before FtK appeared on the scene. Yeah, another thread might be a good thing. But, yes, the point is now, as it always has been, the edification of the lurkers. |
fair enough, and I'm in no way trying to be overly critical here, but shouldn't it be made abundantly clear then?
If the initial impetus of a thread is to try and convince by evidential argument, at what point does the law of diminishing returns apply?
for example, that "creator god" thread went on for several THOUSAND posts.
If the goal was to try and convince Dave Hawkins of anything, I'd say the law of diminishing returns was reached after the first 20 posts or so.
seriously, I'm asking:
when should the law of diminishing returns honestly apply, if the point of the thread is to try and convince the subject of something?
frankly, as I admitted to earlier in this thread, I saw little point in continuing other than to dredge up the constant bits of irony posted by FTK merely to amuse myself. If I wanted to recapitulate Brown's horrid bit of delusion he calls a "book", I'd make a thread about it and tear it apart piece by piece.
I'd say that at some point, the pretense of trying to convince the unconvincable has to be dropped. The effort is never wasted when a fresh face comes to town, but we're looking at an ancient mummified corpse here (no reference to physical appearance implied or intended).
repeating what I said earlier, I see little value in discussing polyploidy with her, and a more honest answer to her repeated issuings to be simply a link to ICC, just as you did with the earlier post.
Maybe I'm overanalyzing this whole thing, but really, at some level it just seems a bit dishonest to even pretend this person is truly interested in learning, given that there are putatively a great many others who ARE.
seriously, I rather envision the role of the "subjects" of the entire Hawkins thread, and these ones with FTK, to be little more than reminders of things that are otherwise actually interesting to discuss in a thread on their own.
for example, I could understand the role of FTK in reminding us the importance of looking at genetics in plants as an interesting topic in the study of evolution.
but then, I find that simply having a list of interesting topics in evolution ready to hand serves much the same purpose.
Steve touched on this earlier, but perhaps the reason I am taking the time to analyze this in horrid detail is at some point, it seems like it just becomes an exercise in cruelty to keep throwing water balloons at the clown, long after their initial performance is done, even if the clown keeps setting themselves up to be pelted, over and over and over again.
I'm thinking, for example, that once some recognized diminishing return in discussion is reached, rather than addressing an issue like that of polyploidy to an "FTK", a more productive and fun (yeah, I'm sick that way) thing to do would be to say something like:
"Oh yeah, that reminds me of some great examples of polyploidy. I'll just make a quick thread in case there are those that might be interested in asking questions about it."
then the issue becomes not about trying to thrust actual science into the face of the ignorant and unlearnable (which rather ends up like trying to prove the sky is blue to someone who is colorblind), but about the science itself, which in the end, speaks for itself.
If interest is expressed in the new thread, then a more in depth discussion can proceed without the distraction of the clown in the room.
anyway, I just felt like it was time to express my thoughts on the issue, now that I've observed so many threads like this. There is both a serious and a humorous side to everything, and while I often come here for the humor value (which still exists in this thread), I just wanted to throw out something I had been seriously thinking about for a while now.
apologies to FTK for distracting her from regurgitating things she doesn't understand from Brown's ramblings.
--------------
"And the sea will grant each man new hope..."
-CC
|
