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I respectfully disagree. <br>
<br>
You won't ever convince the "general public." All you will do is
draw more attention to something that will draw even more heat. You
don't really think the antis will just sit there and keep quiet, do
you? Mark Bekoff and his posse will suddenly go silent? No way. You
will just see more blathering in HuffPost, WashPost, and elsewhere.
<br>
<br>
And it will go to a general public that is uneducated and lacking in
critical thinking ability. A public campaign is just as likely to
end up with even more enmity. <br>
<br>
This is not about information. This is about emotion. This is not
about rationality. That's why I liken it to the
creationist/intelligent design issue. Despite the best efforts of
scientists - including organizations devoted to this one issue! -
no minds have been changed. "Belief" in evolution remains at 30-35%
over time. Heck, even the mushy middle, i.e., people who are not
dogmatic about it - still thinks that hominids descended (love that
word - we do seem to be proof that evolution is not directional and
that newer is not necessarily better) from apes. <br>
<br>
Give it up. You won't persuade the general public. You may persuade
the few who have open minds. The very few.<br>
<br>
And frankly, the museum community cumulatively doesn't have the
resources (money, full-time staff) to deal with this issue on an
ongoing basis. And heck - when they do put something out, they are
clueless to the potential backlash that is made virtually inevitable
by the internet. This isn't 1968, when you could get a nice piece in
a newspaper and the antis could do little but sit back and fume and
maybe write a letter to the editor. <br>
<br>
That being said, it is great to post positive pieces like the one
the Field put out about monkeypox and how the rodent collection at
the Field helped the CDC to determine the source.<br>
<br>
Ellen<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Ellen Paul
Executive Director
The Ornithological Council
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ellen.paul@verizon.net">ellen.paul@verizon.net</a>
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=AwMD-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=S44CIe9i5Iv7ojx8CrHfiDZNvyqOpSs3XOfZ3UVYSXI&s=a-lnHcxNLRuubtEP8u9zNPtsxjKF0IdJSJNrUYn8sWY&e=">"
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET"</a>
</pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/26/15 10:29 PM, Kevin Winker
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAOZ738w5=zfxhNLzxXLTuu+dDqvnJKyE5k0b8uzR0cJCCypBTA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Paul Sweet of the American Museum of Natural History
recently emailed a small number of us remarking that we still
have a lot of work to do to convince the general public that
scientific collecting is still crucial. He's right in his
observation that more could be persuaded if properly informed.
To that end, I've put up a public PR piece on our site and
recommend that we all look for additional ways to be proactive
in this. <br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1GushYi&d=AwMFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wD7OkHZnzEC6183fipEWodDGdBLrjir3mVSE5BWFIa8&m=Jy2AwhXqBkU35zCGMM6n8iYnaNclmP8vsGxEBT9S0bE&s=bgnYvf9tHJx4Kk2GybztfygQTgrg05MvrIxyw4gxW3o&e=" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1GushYi</a> <br>
<br>
</div>
Best,<br>
-- <br>
<div class="gmail_signature">Kevin Winker<br>
University of Alaska Museum<br>
907 Yukon Drive<br>
Fairbanks, AK 99775<br>
</div>
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