[Taxacom] More precise sound bite

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi John,         
       Frankly I think you are the one in denial.  PhyloCode is clearly
an extreme manifestation of Hennigian cladifications.  Not all strict
cladists are PhyloCodists, but all PhyloCodists ARE strict cladists (on
steroids).  Anyway, I should have known better than bringing up
PhyloCode, since so many strict cladists seem oblivious to how
destabilizing it can become (in some ways it already is, even though it
has not yet been officially implemented).  It's an insidious threat that
should not be minimized.
           --------Ken Kinman

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Ken, 
I am very accommodating to our different perspectives, but when you
persist in linking cladistics with the Phylocode you are taking too much
liberty with reality. To make such claims is like claiming there was no
holocaust. 
John Grehan
-----Original Message----- 
From: Kenneth Kinman [mailto:kennethkinman at webtv.net]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 12:51 PM
To: John Grehan
Cc: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: RE: [Taxacom] More precise sound bite 
John and Ronaldo,
              Yes, you could say that 
cladism is a method. As a method of analysis (phylogenetic analysis), I
have no huge problems with it. As a method of classification
(cladification), it does cause problems when it is carried to excess (no
paraphyletic taxa allowed). I sometimes prefer to call myself a
cladisto-eclecticist, since many eclecticists think of "cladist" as a
pejorative term (those guys that simplistically convert their
phylogenetic analyses into cladifications).
              As for being rather obsessed 
with this problem, I guess I'm guilty as charged. Obsessed with a return
to more common sense and balance in classifications. I just wish more
people had been obsessed with blowing the whistle on financial
derivatives which undermined the stability of our financial system.
Unfortunately, I don't think strict cladists really realize how they are
slowly undermining our classification system (although the adoption of
PhyloCode will no doubt then make it glaringly apparent to all).
       
          ----------Ken Kinman