[Taxacom] Anyone else wish this statement was honored?

[Richard Zander]

Doubtless lots of people agree with you, Scott. Now let's not harp on
it. This is the third message.

 

It is valuable for anyone with odd or new opinions to get feedback, even
vigorous feedback, from others. John Grehan has gone through this
process with a certain grace, and in a way we have done right by him.
What he does with it is his business. He does belong on Taxacom,
however. 

 

That only a few people contribute regularly to Taxacom is apparently the
case with all online services. Twitter has 10% contributors, so I am
informed, and everyone else lurks. We regular Taxacom contributors
apparently amuse, educate and pleasantly outrage the lurkers. I lurk on
a certain Google group because there's this monster phylogeneticist who
is even more aggressive and opinionated than I am . . . 

 

My publications are in the reprint section of the Web site listed below,
so yes I actually do find time (and journals) to publish my heretical
and disconcerting outlandish notions. 

 

R.

 

*****************************
Richard H. Zander 
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Missouri Botanical Garden
PO Box 299
St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA
richard.zander at mobot.org
Web sites: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/
and http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm
Non-post deliveries to:
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________________________________

From: Scott Fisher [mailto:scottfisher2010 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 1:19 PM
To: Richard Zander
Cc: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Anyone else wish this statement was honored?

 

Excellent point.  I do, however, find it interesting that the list has
over a thousand members but the conversation is dominated by so few...
I didn't ask others to bully John Grehan.  I asked John Grehan to honor
his promise to quit posting it can move on other productive items.

 

My take is that Grehan's ideas are pretty well known to the list
members.  Nothing is gained by rehashing the same material over and over
again.  If the ideas are so great then publish them and let the entire
world debate their merits.  The same argument can be made for Kinman's
taxonomy ruminations.  Without publication how can anything be judged by
the scientific community?

 

I doubt that MO would be happy if you harped away for years on a list
serve without producing peer reviewed literature to justify your
position.  If so, how does one sign up for such a position?

 

We all get that Grehan argues humans evolved from orangutans. I'm just
tired of hearing about it.  Isn't there more going on in the world of
taxonomy than that hypothesis?  If not, maybe the field should be
allowed to die since it has nothing exciting to add human condition.

 

SF