Thursday, April 22, 2021
How to treat science
In the era when the Fairness Doctrine controlled radio, entertainers had to be fair. It really worked, and it applied to science and scholarship as well as politics.
Here's a nice example from the eminently fair-minded and empathetic MacHarrie. He dramatizes a 1928 incident in Eastland, Texas. The city was tearing down an old courthouse to build a new one. When the old cornerstone was opened, a dead horny toad was found inside. After exposure to air and light, the toad started to come back to life. He was named Old Rip, and was exhibited with proper Texas-size hoopla, even making a visit to the White House.
MacHarrie quotes several Scientific Experts who arrogantly harrumphed: ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE! NO ANIMAL CAN LIVE WITHOUT OXYGEN!
Well, reality is far more fucking complicated, and above all life is far more fucking ALIVE.
In fact horny toads, like many other reptiles and amphibians, hibernate in the winter. They dig deep underground and shift into a mode of suspended animation with minimal breathing and heartbeat.
Could a horny toad stay that way for 31 years? Unlikely but not impossible.
This Texas history website tells the rest of the story in typical big Texas style. Key point: Charlie Woods, an electrician who helped build the 1897 courthouse, contributed Old Rip to the cornerstone. Charlie was also there in 1928 when the cornerstone was opened.
Did he pull a switcheroo? Unknown but not impossible.
So the incident and the science are equally ambiguous, with two possible explanations and no way to decide.
MacHarrie treats both the incident and the science appropriately.
Science is entertainment.
Science is what smartasses do for fun, in the same way that other types of asses play golf or have bar fights. Big Science is a lot more like bar fights than golf, and we should treat it as such.
Labels: Entertainment
¶ 6:12 AM
