Tale of Two Chairs (nomenclature)

[Ken Kinman]

Dear All,
     To use the "chair" analogy:  The old Linnean chair does definitely need
significant fixing (modification).  The new phylocode chair looks to be like
freshly-painted (but termite-infested?) plywood glued together with Elmer's
(it's pretty and new, but will probably fall apart anytime you plop down on
it too hard).
      It has always been obvious to me that we need one system of
nomenclature, and two incompatible systems cannot coexist without generating
extreme confusion.  PhyloCode has confusion and "warfare" written all over
it.
      But this does not excuse us from failing to do something to
cladistically modify the old Linnean "chair".  Without some modest design
changes and preventative maintenance, even that old well-built chair will
slowly crumble.  I agree with cladists it has major problems, but I can't
agree with their extreme remedies which I see as short-sighted (even if
well-meaning).
     I have already shown what kind of modified Linnean chair I use, and I
am mystified why anyone would still be fighting over the old rickety antique
or the new plywood junk chair that will probably throw out painful
nomenclatural splinters when it does break.  I think I'll stick to trying to
make improvements in my own conservative chair design (strengthened with new
materials), and others can choose between the slowly-breaking antique or the
fast-breaking plywood.  The antique is much less hazardous, but I think it
is foolish not to fix it while it is still salvagable.
                   ---------Ken Kinman
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