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Re: Evidence for "Big Bang Theory"
Ben Weiner (bweiner@electron.rutgers.edu)
26 Apr 1995 22:34:11 -0400
roosen@crash.cts.com (Robert Roosen) writes:
> Go to the library and look up Trophim Lysenko. The success of a
>theory depends in part on its political popularity, as an entire
>generation of Russian geneticists learned to their dismay.
> Lysenkoism used to be a commonly used term in science--before it
>became a standard technique of the "political" scientists who are
>presently setting most public funding policies.
I promised myself I would stay out of this, but really, this is a
moral issue. Robert is calling the present big-shots in science, or
maybe just astronomy, or maybe the NSF, or god knows what (and she
ain't sayin'), Lysenkoist.
This is not just garbage, it's insulting to the memory of so many
Soviet scientists who were murdered or imprisoned for holding beliefs
unpopular with Stalin's pets. Robert, even if you think advocates of
your pet theory are being driven out of the profession, I defy you to
name me any astronomers (or other scientists) in the US who have been
physically harmed as a result of attacking "big bang" theories.
Lysenkoism was never a "common" term in science. Or at least, it
shouldn't have been. It should be reserved for those cases where
it means something. If you overuse a comparison to great evil,
eventually the evil is spoken of as if it were mundane.
Look at how a certain US Rep called liberal Democrats "Stalinist"
a few months ago ...
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