Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

[UPDATE:] $1000 reward and $1000 bet — Pianka again

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Uncommon Descent has been scooped by the Pearcey Report: go here. The $1000 reward is herewith withdrawn — the bet still obtains.

First, the reward: In discussing with my wife Eric Pianka’s Texas Academy of Sciences speech in which he had audience members switch off cameras and tape recorders because the unwashed masses aren’t ready to hear what he has to say, she remarked that this would have been the time she would have turned on her recorder. I therefore expect a recording of his talk does exist. I’m therefore offering $1000 to the first person who sends me a reasonable quality digital version of Pianka’s speech before the TAS (.wmv or .mp3) that is undoctored and unabridged and that has not appeared elsewhere (this needs to be a UD exclusive). I guarantee confidentiality.

Second, the bet: In today’s American Statesman (go here), one reads: “Fellow professor David Hillis said most people were sympathetic of the nationally renowned professor’s plight. ‘There’s a strong anti-science sentiment in the country right now,’ Hillis said. Pianka ‘has such a passion for life and diversity. How anyone could paint him as pro-death is unbelievable.'” I’m willing to wager $1000 with David Hillis that sympathy not just nationally but at UTAustin for Pianka will take a nose dive once his TAS speech goes public. Of course, we need to set the terms of this wager more precisely. But it’s a wager easily settled — Pianka needs merely to make his speech before the TAS public (the actual speech — not a bowdlerized version of it).

On another note, I seem to remember testifying opposite Hillis before the Texas State Board of Education regarding misrepresentations of the evidence for evolutionary theory in high school biology textbooks. It just seems we can’t see eye to eye on anything — first evolution and now Ebola.

Comments

"I think more likely they didn’t have the legal right to publish the transcript ..."

So you're saying that the people who made the transcript, and gave it to them so they could publish it, didn't actually grant them the right to publish it?

Do you have evidence of this?

Of course I have evidence of it. The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise itself said they got the transcripts on the condition that they not distribute it.

No recording or transcript of either that speech or another delivered Friday at St. Edward's University in Austin was available for review by the AP. The Gazette-Enterprise said it reviewed a transcript of the original speech, which was provided on the condition that it not be distributed.

Then lo and behold, they distribute it. I'd say they breached some sort of contract right there. I was very surprised when I saw it published by them.

-ds

dhogaza
April 8, 2006
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Dave, I think it is more likely that the paper realized that they had reported on hearsay, their source lacked credibility and they are trying to backktrack. Had they in fact been threatened with legal action, they would have put that on the front page and rolled out their First Amendment defense.

The transcript of the speech and the recorded question could not be hearsay so your hypothesis seems to have a fatal flaw as those disappeared too. I think more likely they didn't have the legal right to publish the transcript and were coerced into pulling everything in order to avoid prosecution and stifle themselves about the deal. Another possibility is the Department of Homeland Security got involved and issued a national security gag order. In any case the silence is deafening. Something really smells rotten in the state of Denmark. -ds Dartos
April 8, 2006
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So why has the Seguin Gazette Enterprise pulled the entire story, including the Pianka transcript, from their website?

My bet is the left wing of the science establishment got all lawyered up and threatened to dover the tiny Seguin Gazette for a million bucks. That's what biology is all about these days, don't you know, suing instead of science. But hey, suing and science both start with an 's' and have two syllables so it's all good. -ds Gerard Harbison
April 7, 2006
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The Pearcy Report transcript starts AFTER his ebola spiel. :-(DaveScot
April 6, 2006
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This is long-winded, but the good Dr inspired me to write some new lyrics to old songs below. Rough, edgy, not always a good beat. I dare say I do not deserve to be alive as result. The amount of air and energy I consumed wasted valuable time and could've been spent wiping out other humans for a better tomorrow. Just call this Doom humor... /rave on Dr Doom. cough..., bright...... coughugenics, cough, cough, cough. "But I asked a reproductive physiologist years ago about this. I said, “Could you design a molecule that you could administer once that would bind to the DNA to turn off reproduction and make people sterile?” Daddy Blue here, lizard lover, bringing tunes of sterilized moods your way... They blinded them with science, derng, doing, ding, darng an old evolutionary worldview, blond hair and no emotion, it worked well for Hitler too. A dedication to the Pianca New World Odor: It's poetry in motion He turned his lizard eyes on me Hypnotized by lizoid doctrinology(Liznotized I tellya!) Bright-Sapien sterilized harmony Mmm - but he blinded me with science "He blinded me with science!" Persuaded me in evOil-loooonery When I sacrifice sperm to him "Blinding me with science - science!" I can smell the chemical trends "Blinding me with science - science!" "Science!" "Science!" Mmm - but it's poetry in motion(poetry I tellya) He turned his lizard eyes on me Hypnotized in China-Abortology Pianca 90 percent dead harmony Mmm - but he blinded me with science(I tellya) Persuaded me in evOil-loonery When I sacrifice my sperm to him "Blinding me with science - science!" "Science!" I can hear Bright-eyed machinery "Blinding me with science - science!" "Science!" It's poetry in motion(DNA poetry I tellya) 3-second love for our baby commodities Brights concoct Bright new potions As we Bow down to Eugenic harmony He blinded me with science(I tellya, real science) "He blinded me with science!" And Aborted me with Technology! "Good Heavens Mr Pianca - you beautiful deception!" I -I don't believe it! There he goes again! he's tidied up, and I can't reproduce! All our wombs and baby criers And careful love Are antiquated notions But! - it's poetry in motion(poetry I tellya) He turned his lizard eyes on me Hynotized by lizoid doctrinology Bright vivisectionist harmony Mmm - but he blinded me with science "He blinded me with - with science!" He blinded me with.... ssssssssscience! Mmmm scieintism.... give me your 90cent technology, Mmmm lizoidism.... blind me with China-abortology, Awaken each day in my blue bed I'll raise my child as you said, I'll give my wife a 3 second day All my childs, your rules they'll play And in the end they'll be like you, lizard eyes and skin of blue Ohhh Science.... upon your porcelain walls of blue I raise up robot kids for you! Ohhh Science.... upon your hallowed walls of don'ts I raise up robot kids who won't! Won't Have a clue, a clue, but to live like you do Won't Have a clue, a clue, but to live only for you. Bright-Mart future: In honor of the reinvented Bright songs, "90% dead", 90% off now in stores near you! Due to death of employees for inappropriate 4 second love, upon arrival help yourself - children are not allowed in the store. If you buy in the Netherlands, only those born after 2000 are allowed to enter the new Bright Store. Handicapped, Blind, Deaf, Mutes, Down-syndrome and far to many other illnesses to list are not allowed in the store. Please be sure to grab a Free-Supply of blue pills on the way out. No money back, all sales are final. Any patron not found to be within Bright-Mart standards, a 4 second love child, or with any ideas unacceptable to the new Bright-World will be turned immediately over to the Bright Blue Authorities. and in other related stories.... a new Hippocratic Oath all good MD's should pursue: Dr. Dr.... give us the news, tell us please what to do Dr. Dr.... Lizard King, give us all your lizoid memes Dr. Dr.... Science Oracle, righteous Lizard of New Bright Morals Dr. Dr.... Lizoid Judge, you decide, for us, its to Much! Dr. Dr.... Boy or girl, who should we bring into this world? Dr. Dr.... We so small minded! Our death is yours for the timing! Dr. Dr.... Have you heard the news? Brights are in love with you! Brights are in love with you! In love with you! back to the real Bright world...... "And he said, yeah, theoretically. And I said, well, if you did that could you design an antidote that would unmask it just briefly for as few seconds? And he said, yeah, probably. So this is what we need. We need to sterilize everybody on the Earth [laughter] and make the antidote freely available to anybody who’s willing to work for it." Dr. Dr.... tell me how I must work for you, I've no blue pills to give me a clue. But I know the Brights are in love with you! I know I must do what you tell me to do! More scintillating sophistry for the neo-swillers of elite-sanctimonium... "Immediately you'd get responsible parenthood. No more juvenile delinquents, unwanted kids. You have a kid, you had to work, and you had only a few seconds to do it in. [Extended laughter]" Dr. Dr.... tell me how to kill Stephen Hawking, unwanted body, a parents unwanted calling. A parents worst nightmare, a drain on the world, a nuisance to bear, nothing he gave is worth breathing our air. Certainly someone more able bodied, with broad shoulders could water your holly's. Lets start now and reduce all the walking dead, those who we must support, we all so dread. For their life is but a drain on the world, a nuisance to bear, for every future boy and girl. I'll give you the knife, the gun, the syringe, the blue pill if you like, we'll get our revenge. We'll all go join "Johnny Anti-AppleSeed", We'll plant little viruses, our world doth need. We'll spread bacteria ever more, abort unwanted pregnancies from shore to shore. If they can't read - well shoot em dead. If they can't work, we'll infect those jerks. And if they cannot love lizards like you, then we all surely know what to do! Ebola, Ebola, Ebola = The Pianca New World Odor. Dr. Dr.... Have you heard the news, All the Brights are in love with you! Dedicated to all the lizards you love baby, a Blue Channel Network station and this has been your blue tuned radio DJ-Bright, BluePill BluesDaddy, bringing home the Bright-Blue World of songs and sonnets-ebola. Remember, take that blue pill, all 4-second children reults in immediate extermination, so sayeth our Blue-Pill Declaration of Brights. All Hail, all hail, all hail The Lizard King! Dr. Doom rave off/Michaels7
April 6, 2006
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I read the transcript from Pianka and found most of his comments to be descriptive not prescriptive but I do believe a lot of context is missed in the form of a transcript vs. a live presentation. I also believe a lot Erchlinger(sp?), who Pianka quotes, was debunked. It was covered in the book "A Jealous God", which I lent out. If anyone has a copy could you check? What seemed to permeate the lecture is the point raised by glennJ of elitism. However, what is markedly different about Prof. Pianka from most eugenics movements is that he is advocating a non-selective instrument in ebola to eradicate 90% of people versus a directed selection of epileptics, down syndrome or non-Aryan such as the Nazis. At least he is consistent in his beliefs by allowing indescriminate natural selection to be the agent for the surviving population. Just a quick question thought . . . isn't a crash from overpopulation just a natural event in a natural world?late_model
April 6, 2006
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Someone needs to track down the video guy who was told to shut it down. The usual reason someone wants camera’s off in a public forum is to limit outside knowledge of the statements made to reach opposition and limit exposure of his wild claims. I’d suggest censorhsip even of a public event. They knew his claims would result in an uproar. Anyone being honest would note this aberration and objection to a taped message.
Not "they", rather HE knew his claims would result in an uproar. I'd bet anything that he and he alone requested the cameras and recording devices be turned off. Now that the ebola is out of the bag, he wants to act like the injured, misunderstood party. Meanwhile the Darwinian minions are lining up to defend Pianka. Where's the outrage and calling to account? Glennj is right: it isn't that people are "anti-science"; it that they are anti-elitist. Scientists who think that they have all the right answers because, after all, they're scientists. And note, too, in all the furor, that somehow Darwinians who weren't even at the event know exactly what Pianka really meant; while those who were actually there, but have ID tendencies, don't have a clue what Pianka really said or meant! But we're all just supposed to take the Darwinian version as correct, given how completely biased those with ID tendencies can be!!! The hypocrisy here is palpable.DonaldM
April 5, 2006
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"‘There’s a strong anti-science sentiment in the country right now,’ Hillis said." Anti-"science" or anti-"elitist"? From Dictionary.com e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism n. --1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources. --2.1. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class. --2.2. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class. Pianka, Dawkins, Myers et.,al. are "elitists". And their elitist ideas are grounded in a Darwinianist evolutionary worldview in which they see themselves as the apex of evolutionary development--smarter than all, wiser than all, the most advanced of all in the long slog of biological systems from the priordial soup. It is not rational to embrace at the same time both Darwinism AND the concept "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."glennj
April 5, 2006
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Someone needs to track down the video guy who was told to shut it down. The usual reason someone wants camera's off in a public forum is to limit outside knowledge of the statements made to reach opposition and limit exposure of his wild claims. I'd suggest censorhsip even of a public event. They knew his claims would result in an uproar. Anyone being honest would note this aberration and objection to a taped message.Michaels7
April 5, 2006
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