Strawmen

[Michael Gochfeld]

Chris,

Thanks.  Strawmen are an art form in themselves. I need a better day,
but it was beautiful springlike out today.  REGARDS---MIKE GOCHFELD

"Chris J. Durden" wrote:
> 
> Mike,
>     What a fantastic straw man you build! I hope you have a better day
> tomorrow.
> ...........Chris Durden
> 
> At 01:48 PM 1/27/2002 -0600, you wrote:
> 
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Chris J. Durden
> >Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 10:27 PM
> >To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> >Subject: Re: animal torture for pleasure
> >
> >
> >I vote for #2. Of the 3 choices it comes closest, but it is not an exact
> >match.
> >............Chris Durden.
> >
> >At 03:24 PM 1/25/2002 -0800, you wrote:
> > >Ron, Richard and all,
> > >
> > >So which is it?
> > >
> > >1) Watchers are animal torturers because they sometimes bungle a netted
> > >specimen.
> > >
> > >2) Watchers are fascists because they will do anything to keep Bambi and
> > >brethren out of the hands of collectors.
> > >
> > >3) Paranoia strikes deep, into your heart it will creep.
> > >
> > >Patrick Foley
> > >patfoley at csus.edu
> >
> >-------------------
> >
> >Mike Quinn replies:
> >
> >Interesting supposition, "watchers are fascists".
> >
> >But don't the vast majority of lepidopterists only collect a small (if not
> >tiny) fraction of the butterflies they see on any outing, particularly if
> >near their home and/or in their favorite collecting ground (if it's north of
> >Mexico)? In other words, don't lepidopterists themselves watch far more than
> >they collect and thus spend most of their time "being fascists"...
> >
> >If watchers are fascists, then I assume that the only true non-fascist good
> >guys and gals are the few vacuum cleaners out there who collect everything,
> >no matter how rare or how common. (Their motto being "if it flies, it
> >dies".) Many of us passed through this phase, particularly if we took
> >freshman entomology but then quickly ran out of space and time to process
> >the tremendous volume of material that is easily acquired if one is not
> >selective.
> >
> >So if collecting everything is not practical (nor even possible), is there
> >any middle ground between good-guy vacuum cleaners and fascist watchers?
> >Chris, as a leader of Victor Emanuel Nature Tour (VENT) field trips, do you
> >issue nets to all your customers and admonish them to put down their binos
> >when butterflying, least they be lumped with the fascists?
> >
> >Perhaps the line between good collectors and fascist watchers is defined by
> >membership. Lep Soc members: good; NABA members: Bad. There that was easy.
> >But wait a minute, what about folks (and scientists) that are members of
> >both? (Can't they make up their minds so that we can properly pigeon-hole
> >them?!?) Membership categorization's no good, besides guilt by association
> >went out with McCarthyism.
> >
> >Perhaps it's just a matter of those who collect are good and those who don't
> >are bad. But that just brings us back to where we started. How much does one
> >need to collect to be a collector? Will the collection of one insect per
> >year bring one into the good-guy ranks of collectordom? Perhaps a higher
> >standard is needed, at least one insect per month, per week or per outing
> >should be required.
> >
> >In ornithology, voice is extremely important in defining species limits.
> >Perhaps dialect can be definitively used to delineate collector from
> >watcher. Watchers, of course, tend to use a particular English dialect while
> >collectors tend towards Latin and/or Greek. But what about Paul Opler whose
> >widely disseminated field guides are bilingual? Is he a collector or a
> >watcher?
> >
> >Perhaps optics holds the key. Watchers tend to use 5 to 10 power binoculars
> >and/or 1 to 6 power photographic lenses. Collectors often use a variety of
> >hand lenses, dissecting and compound microscopes. What about those who
> >photograph specimens, are they just closet watchers? Shucks, drawing the
> >line between collector and non-collector is proving to be as difficult as
> >drawing the line between one subspecies and another...
> >
> >Perhaps #3 comes closest, though it's not an exact match...
> >
> >Happy Birthday Leps-L, we've apparently come 180 degrees from Leps-L's
> >inception during the Kral wars...
> >
> >-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> >Mike Quinn
> >New Braunfels, TX
> >ento at satx.rr.com
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
> 
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