Changes

Finally, '''let me now turn to our data'''.  As I said before, '''the relevant methods and data about the evolution of the citrate-using bacteria are in our paper'''.  In three places in our paper, we did say “data not shown”, which is common in scientific papers owing to limitations in page length, especially for secondary or minor points.  None of the places where we made such references concern the existence of the citrate-using bacteria; they concern only certain secondary properties of those bacteria.  '''We will gladly post those additional data on my website'''.  

Finally, '''let me now turn to our data'''.  As I said before, '''the relevant methods and data about the evolution of the citrate-using bacteria are in our paper'''.  In three places in our paper, we did say “data not shown”, which is common in scientific papers owing to limitations in page length, especially for secondary or minor points.  None of the places where we made such references concern the existence of the citrate-using bacteria; they concern only certain secondary properties of those bacteria.  '''We will gladly post those additional data on my website'''.  

   

   

It is my impression that you seem to think we have only paper and electronic records of having seen some unusual E. coli.  If we made serious errors or misrepresentations, you would surely like to find them in those records.  If we did not, then – as some of your acolytes have suggested – you might assert that our records are themselves untrustworthy because, well, because you said so, I guess.  But perhaps because you did not bother even to read our paper, or perhaps because you aren’t very bright, you seem not to understand that we have the actual, living bacteria that exhibit the properties reported in our paper, including both the ancestral strain used to start this long-term experiment and its evolved citrate-using descendants.  '''In other words, it’s not that we claim to have ''glimpsed'' “a unicorn in the garden” – we have a whole population of them ''living'' in my lab!'''  [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unicorn_in_the_Garden]  And lest you accuse me further of fraud, I do not literally mean that we have ''unicorns'' in the lab.  Rather, I am making a literary allusion.  [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion]

It is my impression that you seem to think we have only paper and electronic records of having seen some unusual E. coli.  If we made serious errors or misrepresentations, you would surely like to find them in those records.  If we did not, then – as some of your acolytes have suggested – you might assert that our records are themselves untrustworthy because, well, because you said so, I guess.  But perhaps because you did not bother even to read our paper, or perhaps because you aren’t very bright, you seem not to understand that we have the actual, living bacteria that exhibit the properties reported in our paper, including both the ancestral strain used to start this long-term experiment and its evolved citrate-using descendants.  '''In other words, it’s not that we claim to have ''glimpsed'' “a unicorn in the garden” – we have a whole population of them ''living'' in my lab!'''  [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unicorn_in_the_Garden]  And lest you accuse me further of fraud, I do not literally mean that we have ''unicorns'' in the lab.  Rather, I am making a literary allusion.  [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion]

   

   

One of your acolytes, Dr. Richard Paley, actually grasped this point.  He does not appear to understand the practice and limitations of science, but at least he realizes that we have the bacteria, and that they provide “the real data that we [that’s you and your gang] need”.  Here’s what this Dr. Paley had to say:

One of your acolytes, Dr. Richard Paley, actually grasped this point.  He does not appear to understand the practice and limitations of science, but at least he realizes that we have the bacteria, and that they provide “the real data that we [that’s you and your gang] need”.  Here’s what this Dr. Paley had to say:

P.P.S.  I hope that some readers might get a chuckle out of this story.  The same ''Sunday'' (15 June 2008) that you and some of your acolytes were posting and promoting scurrilous attacks on me and our research (wasn’t that a bit disrespectful of the Sabbath?), '''I was in a church attending a wedding'''.  And do you know what Old Testament lesson was read?  It was ''Genesis'' 1:27-28, in which God created Man and Woman.  It’s a very simple and lovely story, and I did not ask any questions, storm out, or demand the evidence that it happened as written at a time when science did not yet exist.  I was there in the realm of spirituality and mutual respect, not confusing a house of religion for a science class or laboratory.  And it was a beautiful wedding, too.

P.P.S.  I hope that some readers might get a chuckle out of this story.  The same ''Sunday'' (15 June 2008) that you and some of your acolytes were posting and promoting scurrilous attacks on me and our research (wasn’t that a bit disrespectful of the Sabbath?), '''I was in a church attending a wedding'''.  And do you know what Old Testament lesson was read?  It was ''Genesis'' 1:27-28, in which God created Man and Woman.  It’s a very simple and lovely story, and I did not ask any questions, storm out, or demand the evidence that it happened as written at a time when science did not yet exist.  I was there in the realm of spirituality and mutual respect, not confusing a house of religion for a science class or laboratory.  And it was a beautiful wedding, too.

   

   

P.P.P.S. You may be unable to understand, or unwilling to accept, that evolution occurs.  '''And yet, life evolves!'''  [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pur_si_muove]  From the content on your website, it is clear that you, like many others, view God as the Creator of the Universe.  I respect that view.  I find it baffling, however, that someone can worship God as the all-mighty Creator while, at the same time, denying even the possibility (not to mention the overwhelming evidence) that God’s Creation involved evolution.  It is as though a person thinks that God must have the same limitations when it comes to creation as a person who is unable to understand, or even attempt to understand, the world in which we live.  Isn’t that view insulting to God?

P.P.P.S. You may be unable to understand, or unwilling to accept, that evolution occurs.  '''And yet, life evolves!'''  [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pur_si_muove]  From the content on your website, it is clear that you, like many others, view God as the Creator of the Universe.  I respect that view.  I find it baffling, however, that someone can worship God as the all-mighty Creator while, at the same time, denying even the possibility (not to mention the overwhelming evidence) that God’s Creation involved evolution.  It is as though a person thinks that God must have the same limitations when it comes to creation as a person who is unable to understand, or even attempt to understand, the world in which we live.  Isn’t that view insulting to God?

   

   

P.P.P.P.S.  I noticed that you say that one of your favorite articles on your website is the one on “Deceit.”  That article begins as follows: “Deceit is the deliberate distortion or denial of the truth with an intent to trick or fool another. Christianity and Judaism teach that deceit is wrong. For example, the Old Testament says, ‘'''Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.'''’”  You really should ''think'' more carefully about what that commandment means before you go around bearing false witness against others.

P.P.P.P.S.  I noticed that you say that one of your favorite articles on your website is the one on “Deceit.”  That article begins as follows: “Deceit is the deliberate distortion or denial of the truth with an intent to trick or fool another. Christianity and Judaism teach that deceit is wrong. For example, the Old Testament says, ‘'''Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.'''’”  You really should ''think'' more carefully about what that commandment means before you go around bearing false witness against others.

[[Category:Evolution]]

[[Category:Evolution]]

[[Category:Conservapedia Dealings with PNAS and Lenski]]

[[Category:Conservapedia Dealings with PNAS and Lenski]]