Re: [Phys-l] mushrooms ... and other terminology issues

[curtis osterhoudt <flutzpah@yahoo.com>]

Just in clarification, I've only ever heard the question asked by carmelo@pacific.net.sg with a different phrasing; specifically, it's asked by a certain group "are humans alive before birth? If so, at which month?". I wasn't sure if that's what was being got at, which is why I asked the leading questions, and my hackles raised. I apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, but I've seen where those things go. When having THAT conversation, the question of our firm fixation in Kingdom Animalia makes little to no difference to me.

    I agree that definitions are often not quibblesome things. Sometimes, true, they're a distinction without a difference. One problem is that people are very, very good at taking any wiggle room and running with it, and widely varying views might adopt the same denotations because of slight variations in the connotations. 

 



> ________________________________
> From: Joseph Bellina <inquirybellina@comcast.net>
> To: curtis osterhoudt <flutzpah@yahoo.com>; Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu>
> Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 9:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] mushrooms ... and other terminology issues
>
> Words are powerful things.  Real scientific definitions come out of discourse, so of course there is a historical dimension, but I don't think I would normally think about definitions as quibbling, since they are based on conceptual frameworks that run deep.
>
> joe
> Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
> Retired Professor of Physics
> Co-Director
> Northern Indiana Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Collaborative
> 574-276-8294
> inquirybellina@comcast.net
>
>
>
>
> On Aug 12, 2011, at 11:16 AM, curtis osterhoudt wrote:
>
> > Very true. In related news, Florida recently outlawed "sex with animals" (http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=10369), but forgot their basic taxonomy of humans. . ..
> >
> > I'm a bit disturbed by your use of the word "subsequently", though that's likely a conversation to be having off-list. Perhaps this one is, too.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: "carmelo@pacific.net.sg" <carmelo@pacific.net.sg>
> > > To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> > > Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 8:51 AM
> > > Subject: Re: [Phys-l] mushrooms ... and other terminology issues
> > >
> > > It can be worthwhile quibbling about definitions.
> > > Some doctors adopted the "alternative definition", and continued with  
> > > abortion.
> > > Their clinics were destroyed subsequently.
> > >
> > > We have to be very careful with definitions. :-)
> > >
> > >
> > > Quoting curtis osterhoudt <flutzpah@yahoo.com>:
> > >
> > > > I don't understand. Are spores fungi? Are pollen grains actually  
> > > > plants? Are you quibbling about definitions?
> > > >
> > > >   
> > > > /**************************************
> > > > "The four points of the compass be logic, knowledge, wisdom and the  
> > > > unknown. Some do bow in that final direction. Others advance upon  
> > > > it. To bow before the one is to lose sight of the three. I may  
> > > > submit to the unknown, but never to the unknowable." ~~Roger  
> > > > Zelazny, in "Lord of Light"
> > > > ***************************************/
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > ________________________________
> > > > > From: "carmelo@pacific.net.sg" <carmelo@pacific.net.sg>
> > > > > To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> > > > > Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:56 PM
> > > > > Subject: Re: [Phys-l] mushrooms ... and other terminology issues
> > > > >
> > > > > Are we animals before birth or after?
> > > > > If it is before birth, which month?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Quoting curtis osterhoudt <flutzpah@yahoo.com>:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Many protozoa, including amoebas, are predators, and are decidedly 
> > > > > > not animals.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >   
> > > > > > /**************************************
> > > > > > "The four points of the compass be logic, knowledge, wisdom and the 
> > > > > > unknown. Some do bow in that final direction. Others advance upon 
> > > > > > it. To bow before the one is to lose sight of the three. I may 
> > > > > > submit to the unknown, but never to the unknowable." ~~Roger 
> > > > > > Zelazny, in "Lord of Light"
> > > > > > ***************************************/
> > > > >
> > > > >
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> > >
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