Oh dear… the ignorance.

Phil, of course it’s a metaphor – we Know that. And we all know that scientists often use literary devices like them. BUT I have to agree with Jason. By using such metaphors with anthropomorphism and other strictly “inaccurate” devices, scientists set themselves up for misunderstanding by those of the masses that aren’t so scientifically savvy as to put it into proper perspective all the time! And gosh, the scientific community doesn’t need to engender more misunderstanding by the general public. For example, I have often railed at evolutionary explanations for things like some birds evolved bigger, thicker, stronger beaks in order to crack the harder nuts available to them. NO! It was simply that the birds that did have bigger beaks were able to take advantage of harder nuts and they were thus more equipped to survive and pass along the gene for bigger beaks. There is a BIG difference here between the two explanations. And so, why couldn’t you have just said something like “… the truth of the universe is quite independent of what you think is true.”

But hey, I do Congratulate you! And I continue to be a big fan.

Phil, of course it’s a metaphor – we Know that. And we all know that scientists often use literary devices like them. BUT I have to agree with Jason. By using such metaphors with anthropomorphism and other strictly “inaccurate” devices, scientists set themselves up for misunderstanding by those of the masses that aren’t so scientifically savvy as to put it into proper perspective all the time! And gosh, the scientific community doesn’t need to engender more misunderstanding by the general public. For example, I have often railed at evolutionary explanations for things like some birds evolved bigger, thicker, stronger beaks in order to crack the harder nuts available to them. NO! It was simply that the birds that did have bigger beaks were able to take advantage of harder nuts and they were thus more equipped to survive and pass along the gene for bigger beaks. There is a BIG difference here between the two explanations. And so, why couldn’t you have just said something like “… the truth of the universe is quite independent of what you think is true.”