Evolution quotes: Arguments 4 May 20125 May 2012 Arguments have no chance against petrified training; they wear it as little as the waves wear a cliff. Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court Humor Quotes
Evolution Evolution quotes 6 May 2010 But is it not possible to apply a test whereby a true species may be known from a mere variety? Is there no criterion of species? Great authorities affirm that there is—that the unions of members of the same species are always fertile, while those of distinct species are either… Read More
Humor Dennett has heart surgery after an aortic dissection, and gives thanks 28 Nov 2008 … to his doctors. Here. Late Note: Ronan in the comments points out this was in 2006. I think I was sleeping that year… Read More
Evolution Evolution quotes: Socialism 9 May 20129 May 2012 To the biologist the problem of socialism appears largely as a problem of size. The extreme socialists desire to run every nation as a single business concern. I do not suppose that Henry Ford would find much difficulty in running Andorra or Luxembourg on a socialistic basis. He has already… Read More
I’d like to think that Twain knew that waves wear cliffs, and that the analogy is apt in the description of how long it takes to change those with petrified training by rational argument.
Typically, waves don’t do much erosion. It is the sediment carried in suspension by the water that does the eroding as a rule.
Well, of course you can like to think whatever you like to think. But geologists don’t think that the time required to erode a cliff counts as a long time. The Phanerozoic, now, that’s a pretty long time.
Geologists think “sudden” events take tens of thousands of years. Traffic cops think a sudden stop takes less than a few seconds. Depends very largely on who you are being taken to task by. I think Twain’s views are nearer the traffic cop’s.
They make it change form over time but in the moment and context the landscape seems literally solid, unchanging, unyielding and obviously so, as everyone sees the same thing from the same literal perspective i.e. standing at the edge of a cliff convinced that the ground will hold and history will not drag them down to the abyssal plain.
Jeb: …but in the moment and context the landscape seems literally solid, unchanging, unyielding … Not if you grew up on the coastline where I grew up it doesn’t! Collapsing cliffs is a regular part of life and awareness! Whole villages disappear into the sea within living memory. “You can still hear the church bells ringing when the tide rolls in!”
Small N.E fishing village for me perched on a cliff face between arable farming land and the north sea. Only time cliff went down was when a neighbour found whale amber; stuck it in his shed sent it off for testing. It was not amber but the explosives from a w.w.2 mine. Street was sealed of, army turned up slung it in the back of land-rover and blew a very large impressive chunk of a large cliff face. Great place to be as kid North sea in full storm, spent hours staring at it as a kid in wonder . “the bells”. I also rather like the old folk under the sea myths, and sea beans and fairy eggs as the congealed blood and vital organs of these folk and monsters that haunt the depths.
Jeb says: “everyone sees the same thing from the same literal perspective i.e. standing at the edge of a cliff convinced that the ground will hold and history will not drag them down to the abyssal plain” Unless someone pushes them off. One day I’ll work out how to put quotes in nice little boxes.
To indent quotes, either highlight the text you want to quote and click on “Reply”, or the manual way is to type the HTML code “blockquote” in angle brackets thus: ⟨blockquote⟩ and finish the text to be quoted with ⟨/blockquote⟩ before typing your response.
“One day I’ll work out how to put quotes in nice little boxes.” Useful if you are dyslexic I find, helps with short term memory issues. But then that term covers a wide spectrum and everyone will be different in how the work and think. “Unless someone pushes them off.” Indeed, when you think and have to learn differently it does upset people, particularly many working in education as they are generally ignorant with regard to the issues. Gets worse the further you advance as more interest is shown in how you research and order thought and my mind does not work by putting things into nice little boxes. But I am use to being viewed as stupid and facing snide remarks for the manner in which I work, no longer has any effect, I am not stupid and I have every right to do what I love doing and I am not trying to force my opinions on anyone else, had to put up with people doing that to me for years and it is somewhat ignorant. My introduction to history that started me thinking more seriously and systematically about the subject was reading the archeologists Leslie Alcock; shifting sands, was the metaphor he used in an introduction.