From: martinc@grover.cs.unc.edu (Charles R. Martin)
Newsgroups: soc.singles
Subject: Re: men in their thirties who never dated
Date: 30 Sep 92 14:35:45 GMT
	<ewright.717696345@convex.convex.com> <aa+p3aj@lynx.unm.edu>
	<ewright.717781394@convex.convex.com>
	<MARTINC.92Sep29212026@grover.cs.unc.edu>
	<ewright.717825068@convex.convex.com>
Organization: UNC Department of Computer Science
In-reply-to: ewright@convex.com's message of 30 Sep 92 03:51:08 GMT

In article <ewright.717825068@convex.convex.com> ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:

   In <MARTINC.92Sep29212026@grover.cs.unc.edu> martinc@grover.cs.unc.edu (Charles R. Martin) writes:

   >In article <ewright.717781394@convex.convex.com> ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:

   >   >Because, Edward, what they are saying is true! Did you ever stop to think
   >   >of that?  Americans, in general, are not very physically fit. 

   >   Do you have any evidence to prove that?

   >Ed, we've offered medical evidence with references on more than one
   >occasion.  You've responded with (a) a stupid conspiracy theory and (b)

   Your "evidence" wouldn't convince even a bright high-school student,
   Charlie.  You quote studies that had obvious errors in them -- one
   study failed to control for the effects of diet, another assumed that
   walking, running, and tennis were all equally strenuous forms of
   exercise -- and when someone points out these experimental errors,
   you launch ad hominem attacks such as "conspiracy theory."

Did you actually read the studies, Ed?  As I recall, you simply claimed
that you "knew better" than to believe that walking, jogging, and duffer
tennis were comparable levels of exercise.  That's actually something
that can be measured, and was measured.  But your opinion outweighs
those measurements.

   In
   science, there are no unquestionable truths.  

Except, apparently, for your opinions.

   Established theories
   must be open to question, because that is the way science advances.
   You believe that scientific truth can be found in a book that
   contains the last word on the subject because it is written by "the
   authorities" [your exact words].  Unfortunately, authority is useless
   in science.  As G. Harry Stine 

...famous scientific authority ...

   said, "if it's 'official', it ain't
   science -- by definition."  Your Official Science is not science but
   religion.  The DUMB Book of Diet and Exercise is your holy scripture,
   which you will defend against anyone who dares to point out the
   inadequacies of your research methods or the exaggerated nature of
   your claims.

Until you actually *read* the studies -- or at least secondary sources
-- you don't have standing to have an opinion.
--
Charles R. Martin/(Charlie)/martinc@cs.unc.edu/(ne crm@cs.duke.edu) 
O/Dept. of Computer Science/CB #3175 UNC-CH/Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3175
H/3611 University Dr #13M/Durham, NC 27707/(919) 419 1754
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am he who walks the States with a barb'd tongue, questioning every
one I meet,/Who are you that wanted only to be told what you knew
before?/ Who are you that wanted only a book to join you in your
nonsense?"  _Leaves of Grass_ xxiii.4.
Newsgroups: soc.singles