Comment Re:Obscurantism (Score 1) 419
In response to philspear:
First, I believe stem cell research holds incredible promise for human health, and that it is a worthy target for federal science funding. I also believe in evolution and think anyone who doesnt is rather silly.
However, I can understand why some people have an aversion to embryonic stem cell research. After all, in Germany (about as secular a state as exists today) all such research is completely banned. In july 2006 the German government tried to get EU-level funding for ESCR banned. This is not due to german ignorance or religious fervor, its due to that nation's painful memories of scientific research on humans. I happen to think the germans are wrong here, but i can empathize with their point of view and do not believe they arrived at it as a result of national ignorance.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/jul/20/genetics.europeanunion
I dont think there's a large constituency in the US that would want a complete ban a la Germany, where even privately funded research is banned. I dont think there are many people who oppose all government stem cell research funding whatsoever. I dont even recall any republicans proposing we reduce funding for stem cell research to the levels seen in the Clinton administration. Its simply a question of using tax dollars to fund a particular subset of research that bothers many people. I happen to disagree with those people, but I dont think its because Im smarter than they are.
On evolution - I live in NYC, where many educated people seem to have an unhealthy obsession with what children in the hinterlands of Kentucky or some other flyover state are being taught. Of course, these people (along with their ideological fellow-travelers in largely collectivist metropolises like LA, San Francisco, and DC) live within a few miles of some of the least educated children in the western world. God forbid some child in West Virginia not get a Washington DC approved science text book, but never mind that the high school completion rate in DC (44%) is worse than every state in the country. Its always a political winner to avoid dealing with tough local problems, instead appealing to popular prejudices against faraway people.
http://ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/onethird.pdf
I think the world would be a better place if we as a society did a better job of teaching our children things like evolution, and invested more in cutting edge science like ESCR. But the answer isnt more centralized control, more spending more government.
When I hear about people complaining about 'Fox News' or 'Bob Jones University' or 'Christian Fundamentalists' or how some stupid people are questioning some new Federal spending initiative, I believe I am listening to an elitist , a statist, and maybe a sectionalist, but certainly not someone seriously concerned about the advancement of science.
http://dirckthenoorman.com/
First, I believe stem cell research holds incredible promise for human health, and that it is a worthy target for federal science funding. I also believe in evolution and think anyone who doesnt is rather silly.
However, I can understand why some people have an aversion to embryonic stem cell research. After all, in Germany (about as secular a state as exists today) all such research is completely banned. In july 2006 the German government tried to get EU-level funding for ESCR banned. This is not due to german ignorance or religious fervor, its due to that nation's painful memories of scientific research on humans. I happen to think the germans are wrong here, but i can empathize with their point of view and do not believe they arrived at it as a result of national ignorance.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/jul/20/genetics.europeanunion
I dont think there's a large constituency in the US that would want a complete ban a la Germany, where even privately funded research is banned. I dont think there are many people who oppose all government stem cell research funding whatsoever. I dont even recall any republicans proposing we reduce funding for stem cell research to the levels seen in the Clinton administration. Its simply a question of using tax dollars to fund a particular subset of research that bothers many people. I happen to disagree with those people, but I dont think its because Im smarter than they are.
On evolution - I live in NYC, where many educated people seem to have an unhealthy obsession with what children in the hinterlands of Kentucky or some other flyover state are being taught. Of course, these people (along with their ideological fellow-travelers in largely collectivist metropolises like LA, San Francisco, and DC) live within a few miles of some of the least educated children in the western world. God forbid some child in West Virginia not get a Washington DC approved science text book, but never mind that the high school completion rate in DC (44%) is worse than every state in the country. Its always a political winner to avoid dealing with tough local problems, instead appealing to popular prejudices against faraway people.
http://ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/onethird.pdf
I think the world would be a better place if we as a society did a better job of teaching our children things like evolution, and invested more in cutting edge science like ESCR. But the answer isnt more centralized control, more spending more government.
When I hear about people complaining about 'Fox News' or 'Bob Jones University' or 'Christian Fundamentalists' or how some stupid people are questioning some new Federal spending initiative, I believe I am listening to an elitist , a statist, and maybe a sectionalist, but certainly not someone seriously concerned about the advancement of science.
http://dirckthenoorman.com/
