virus: Mother-Daughter Dating

Reed Konsler (konsler@ascat.harvard.edu)
Wed, 19 Feb 1997 11:44:00 -0500


>From: zaimoni@ksu.edu
>Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 11:13:38 -0600 (CST)
>Subject: Re: virus: Mother-Daughter Dating
>
>On Fri, 14 Feb 1997, Reed Konsler wrote:
>
>> Zamboni wrote:
>> >The assumption I balk at is this: the starting level of a
>> >mother-daughter
>> >based dating method is ALWAYS 100% mother, 0% daughter.
>>
>> Richard wrote:
>> >I agree this is true in most cases. However, there have been
>> >well-documented cases in which experimenters have dated the DAUGHTER
>> >first, only to progress to dating the mother some months later. These
>> >cases, however, almost always involve some intentionality on the part of
>> >the mother and so may perhaps be discounted.
>>
>> Sad to say this is yet another example of antiquated cutural practices
>>standing
>> in the way of the advancement of science. In order to be completely
>>rigourous
>> it would be necessary for the researchers to engage in double-blind dating
>> with a randomized sample of mothers and daughters. I've heard of some
>> attempts to reduce this to practice, but not in any repudable publications.
>
>The above context has nothing to do with geology.

WARNING: THE ABOVE STATEMENT WAS A JOKE, IRONIC, WITTY (well, so I thought)

Are you being intentionally dense? Are you trying to make a point by
screwing with my mind? Did you read the above exchange and NOT realize the
context of the argument had changed? If you really thought I was serious I
am dumbfounded by my own inability to communicate humor. Maybe I should
stick to chemistry.

>An example of appropriate context is this: [cut out the details]

blah, blah. No offense, but I'm a scientist and I live in a world of
technical shit as it is. All I can say is that it is easy to criticise
people's thinking but difficult to offer an alternative. Language is used
differently in different sciences and the standards of evidence, proof and
logic vary. No sub-set of the scientific mind is like the "culture" which
most Westerners share. I frankly have no idea if those hacks in Geology
know their ass from a hole in the ground...but I trust that as fellow
scientists they are trying to strike a match in the dark...even if they end
up lighting their own farts most of the time. If radiodating is fucked
then eventually we will figure it out and replace our current understanding
with another. The details of it don't interest me at this time.

I'm sorry, I really don't mean to offend. I think I'm just stunned that my
sophomoric intention at humor went unrecognized...unappreciated, now that
I'm used to...but to be interpreted seriously?

Dazed and Confused,

Reed

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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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