It could be that I'm wrapped too tight. There are things I could relate right now that would not excuse my wrapped-too-tightedness, but would at least provide insight into why I consider the issue to be so important, among the most crucial of my life. I don't, however, wish to relate anything about where I work.
I did miss the irony in your post. 1) I don't remember who posts what and treat ever post individually, and 2) there are some things that are so ridiculous that it is indistinguishable from parody. (There's a name for this that I don't recall right now.)
OTOH, I do recall that you and I are discussing something on the evolution thread. I think you mistakenly interpret my posts as criticisms of you. It is not clear to me what your positions are. The only way to tell is to poke around the edges, mostly by articulating what I think and why I think it. I speak clearly and harshly against the misapplication of science. It has taken me years - decades even - to develop this approach and this tone.
By nature I am conciliatory and compromising. For the longest time, I was trying to compromise with creationists and the like, trying to find common ground to start at. This is back when I actually had some respect for them and erroneously believed that they had respect for me. I actually believed that they were 'searching for truth' and that most of them were smart people who just hadn't thought through the issues clearly. This is true for a very small number of them. For most of them, they are either deeply dishonest, deluded, or utterly irrational. Willful ignorance, coupled with extreme arrogance and an delusional paranoia about scientific conspiracy theories contribute to their inexorable quest for utter planetary stupidity. Almost every single thing these people 'know' is wrong.
The problem seems intractable, but the engineer in me refuses to accept "it can't be done" as the right answer. Nor can my feeble moral sense allow me to shut my mouth or just sit on my hands while the Endumbening continues. I know there are some who will never be reached by any amount of evidence or logic. I get it. I really do. But I was a creationist myself. I thought I understood stuff that I didn't. And somehow I figured it out. So can others.
Enter you. You point out (in so many words) that I am disrespectful towards creationists (among others). I am harsh - and sometimes, yes, disrespectful. I consider it disrespectful to spout stupidity and call it the word of God. And we're not doing anybody any favors by pretending that legitimate scientific theories should be discussed on equal terms with creationism. I do not sense that I am being unduly harsh with creationists. In fact, I'm pretty sure that most of them are quite intelligent and qualified - in something completely removed from science.
Creationism is the issue that I harp on, because it's one I have studied a lot. But there are many, MANY others. You are a relative newcomer to this forum. We have had people come in here promoting many different kinds of stupidity. There are some people who have flooded the net with their stupidity. They go to various science-related forums and post their silliness and try to keep it discussed. The intent is to create the illusion of respectability.
More generally, I am interested in the relation between science and society - how to make it more effective, how we use it, how we judge science from non-science. I want to work in my own area of science, but I also want to help other people understand how science works. I want to figure it out myself and I want to relate what I find out or figure out to other people.
The Internet is a staggering tool for acquiring and vetting knowledge. But it's also a powerful tool for the promulgation of false knowledge and inanity. It's a mistake for us to think that things will work themselves out without a conscious, meticulous effort by someone to set things aright. There is some great stuff out there in the wilderness. talkorigins is a great place. snopes is another. wiki, fedstats, many others. But they are dwarved by the massive influx of stupidity onto the net. For every scientist posting on the net there are dozens of preachers who took 3rd grade science and feel qualified to put those idiot scientists in their place. It's an issue, but the first step is to get the good information out there - and to refine it repeatedly until it's in a form that people can understand.
