dave_in_michigan
Well-known member
Incredible! So you think the skeptical review of the evidence has been good and thorough?
I've seen some good skeptical review and lots of crappy "skeptical" b.s. It is certainly reasonable to say that there is not conclusive evidence of IBWO survival. That not a surprize to you, is it?
I think it's a bit tougher to go the next step and believe with very high confidence that they're extinct. I hope you can see the difference. Fact is, the evidence doesn't show anything for certain, and I think reasonable people can disagree on likelihood based on the data. Part of that comes down to how good you think the search effort has been to date.
So if the skeptics have met their obligation as good scientists, what were all your previous posts about? What does it matter if some skeptics are not good scientists, if the evidence has been reviewed to your satisfaction by the good ones?
Bad science brings bad opinions, bad decisions, and bad policies. And public opinion generally has more immediate force than proper science. People everywhere ought to get their sh*t straight, or at the very least learn to recognize the bull.
Just on this page you say that Ilya Maclean, Tim Allwood, Imaginos, BonsaiBirder, and I have all missed your point. So what is your point? Maybe you should read your own posts again and try to figure out how all of these people could read them and come away with the wrong impression.
I can only speculate, but it probably has something to do with projecting some motiviation or intent onto me. I can go back and try to guess how something was misunderstood, but why should I? I'll explain what I mean, and you can explain what you mean.
Maybe you can explain to me how you got the impression that I "think skeptics are not being good scientists and are basing their skepticism on ideology rather than science." Because I never said that. Do you think I'm here just to slam skeptics or something? Or to get people to believe that there are surviving IBWO's out there? That's not what I'm about.
What I would like to see is better search strategies (since they are searching, aren't they) and better discussion of it.
Nice to dream, anyway.