Today in America is the annual Thanksgiving holiday, where we reflect for a moment (our albedo is high but transient) on where we are, how we got here, and to whom we are thankful.
My list, as usual, is pretty long, but since this is the blog I’ll simply thank all of you, the BABloggees. Writing a blog is a weird thing to do, throwing your words out there and seeing what sticks (and never really knowing what will). I’m glad and thankful so many folks read what it is I write, and whether you agree with what I write or not, I want you to know that it’s better to know folks are reading it than not reading it. I’d always rather a have good, thoughtful discussion over an issue than be met with silence, even if it’s the silence of head-nodding agreement.
Reality is what it is, and while we may not agree on how to interpret it, we can all be thankful there are others out there willing to discuss it.
So: thanks.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:15 am
And thank you, Dr. Plait, for keeping us informed of so much in the world of Science (especially Astronomy and other space-related stuff), and in the political war against Science.
And a thanks to all the intelligent posters who share these boards, we can all learn from each other – even when we are wrong (probably more when we are wrong!).
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
Yeah, what Sergeant Zim said. Thank you for the education and the entertainmet; and the skepticism. Keeps me healthier than homeopathy.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:38 am
And a mighty universal size thank you to you, Dr. P, for all that you do to further science and rational thought.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:47 am
How weird that an overt religion hater such as yourself posts something like this on a day when a lot of people are praying to give thanks. “To whom are you thankful”, Dr. Phil? Yourself and your ego?
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:49 am
What else can I add? I have to thank you for great education and entertainment! (And I can thank some guys at my university adding a link to your page on ours! That’s how I found you a year ago!)
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:49 am
You’re welcome, Dr. Plait. I, too, am thankful for websites like yours which provide a variety of insights to stuff I’ve always been curious about but have never had the time (or the brains) to study. Hope your holiday in the new home and city is joyous and fulfilling.
Will. M.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:55 am
Thank you for devoting so much time to this Blog. I read it everyday, and I always learn something.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:58 am
First, Thanks to all of you. The information and the controversy are important to me.
To the BA himself, some have complained that you don’t just stick to the astronomy. I say ignore them. I enjoy the political posts and the skeptic posts at least as much as the astronomy posts.
To Miles Standish, just as something can be designed without the necessity of a conscious designer, one can be thankful without that feeling being directed to anyone in particular. When I hear someone say “Thank Jeebus” when a tsunami lands on somebody else, I just can’t help think how tiny their mind must be. I am also glad not to be the victim of a natural disaster, but the suggestion that I was somehow protected by some conscious agency means that someone else was targeted. That is not an acceptable thought as far as I’m concerned.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:04 am
BaldApe: you have put words into my mouth – and thoughts into my mind – that are not my own. You are just as bad as the religious zealots who ascribe their own motives to a higher power because of some phrases written in a book centuries ago.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:08 am
Thank you very much for all your hard work, Phil. And thank you to all of the BABloggees for your contribution. I’ve learned so much from these discussions.
Jen:)
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:37 am
Have a very bad thanksgiving!
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:42 am
Thank you as well, Phil. I very much enjoy reading your posts on all sorts of subjects and I also like reading the thoughts of many of the other posters here, so thanks to you all as well.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 am
Thank you Phil and all you BABloggees (even you, Miles Standish) for BABlogging. It is good to stimulate “ze little gray cells, n’est pas?”
BTW: Miles, are these words not clear enough for you – “My list, as usual, is pretty long, but since this is the blog I’ll simply thank all of you, the BABloggees”?
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Miles? What’s your frikikin point?
Giving thanks is not an act of prayer, as you have unilaterally declared.
And yes, Phil thanks you for your contribution. He’s not judgemental that way.
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Phil, thanks for writing the blog! I read every day but don’t post comments often, but I figured today would be appropriate.
I really appreciate your take on things in this world – with an open mind. Keep up the great work.
Z.
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Oh dear, even a gracious ‘thank you’ turns into a sniping contest.
Hope you all have a nice holiday over there. Maybe some turkey induced tryptophan sedation is just what you need
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Have a great thanksgiving Phil, and all your American readers. Even though I’m Australian, I’ll be celebrating it too, due to my American friend that lives here, who puts on a great barbeque every year. It’s gonna be 30 degrees Celsius, perfect!
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Cheers, Phil, for a great blog!
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I’m not American and so don’t celebrate thanksgiving, but no reason why that should stop me being grateful for something that’s top of my daily reads list
Thanks, Phil!
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:53 pm
You’re welcome!
Right now I’m at work wishing that I could be thankful that I’m celebrating a 4 day weekend. Oh well.
November 22nd, 2007 at 1:05 pm
“Thanks,” Phil? Thanks!? Hey, you know what, man? Thank you too! Thank you and the horse you rode in on!
Sorry, I got a little aggressive with the thanks there. I am wicked hungry right now, and it seems that I’m a little cranky, and the smell of turkey cooking is making me extra hungry.
I really appreciate your efforts at stating fact and knowledge, allowing those of us who are not very highly educated, to be more informed on scientific matters, than we might otherwise be. (…and yes, I am proud of that grammatically terrible sentence.)
So, umm, yeah. Thanks for being awesome.
Words and stuff,
Big Frankie C
November 22nd, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Phil,
When I introduced myself to you at the Mythbusters presentation in Ft.McMurray by saying “Hi! I read your Blog”.
Your first words were “Sorry about all the politics”.
I think the comments on this post overwhelmingly show that apology to be unwarranted, for most us, its one of the reasons we read it.
Dont change a thing.
BTW we Canucks celebrate Thanksgiving in October and I’m still digesting it.
Thank YOU!! Dr. BA and happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Shaun
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Am I the only one laughing here at the astronomy humour? I shall be thankful and smugly superior, then.
Thanks Phil, for inspiring thoughts – science related and otherwise.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Thanks Phil! Still remember our meeting and dinner discussion at that “Himalayan restaurant” out in Davis CA where you spoke and met up with various Amateur Astronomers. And I’ll give further thanks to you with my cash when your next book comes out. Have a great gobble-gobble Turkey day!
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Well… thanks, Phil.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Thanks, Phil.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Hear hear, from The Other Side (of the world). Even though we don’t have Thanksgiving. Or eat much turkey. Or have Pilgrims. We do have natives, though, but they are called Maori.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Thank you for taking the time to enrich our brains each day!
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 am
Thanks right back to BA and to most of the bloggers here. (Trolls don’t deserve thanks, and no, I’m not calling anyone a troll just because they disagree with what’s posted.)
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:28 am
Thank to you, Phil
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:56 am
This is the day after. Thank you BA.
Oh, the turkey was excellent, as was all the other
goodies.
Must diet next week.
November 24th, 2007 at 6:27 am
Several things here:
A) Phil, you’re welcome. I enjoy it here.
B) Thanks to you, too, for (1) drawing our attnetion to gorgeous astrophotographs from time to time, and (2) standing up and fighting against stupidity.
C) Miles Standish said:
“How weird that an overt religion hater such as yourself posts something like this on a day when a lot of people are praying to give thanks. “To whom are you thankfulâ€, Dr. Phil? Yourself and your ego?”
Miles, I’d appreciate it if you could supply the evidence that Phil is “an overt religion-hater”. IMO, he makes a big effort to respect religious people despite all the crazy things that some of them say and do.
Besides, I thought Thanksgiving was about thanking the Native Americans who helped the Pilgrim Fathers survive their first winter in the New World…? No? Oh, well, maybe that’s best left under the rug.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Like some others, Phil, I rarely contribute to on-line chat.
Your daily dose of thoughtful stuff makes my evenings. As a bit of an oldie, I am delighted to take part in a program designed to encourage seniour high school students to consider science, engineering and maths as career options.
Thanks are indeed appropriate and continuously so, for the fact that a great number of bright and alert younger citizens of our planet are not side tracked by religion, are enthusiastic about searching for scientific (and other) thruths and have the energy and optimism to throw their lives into that quest.
And I happily direct them to BABlog website for a little stimulation.
So, be thankful, enjoy Thanksgiving, interpret social customs whatever way suits you best, but be mindful of the difference between verifiable truth (science) and fake knowledge, aka “beliefs” or “religion”.
Thanks, Phil.