[leps-talk] Mission: educating watchers

[Bill Yule]

Hi all.
   I'd like to respond to Ken's post and several recent threads at once and
since Leps-talk has been receptive to my rambles before I'm going to let
fly:
1.  I heartily second everything Ken says about the possibilities of peace
in the watcher/collector lepidopteron beast.  I've said it before, I'll say
it again:  We all have something to contribute to the important work of
research, education, conservation and fellowship.  The only prerequisite to
success in these endeavors is mutual respect. To sum up; it's always better
to build bridges than to pick at scabs.
2.  The 2nd law. As several have pointed out Thermodynamics is a
mathematical construct that describes an equivalency within CLOSED SYSTEMS:
Total energy remains constant. The 2nd law simply describes the trend of the
nature of the change in the form of that energy to degrade (i.e. increase
random motion or heat). Apparent exceptions to the second law are the result
of energy entering the system(the equation) from somewhere outside the
boundaries of the system. If you want to consider the Universe (all matter
and energy) the closed system and then say that something outside the system
created the system (a Creator) that's fine, but I don't see that is saying
anything other than I believe in a first cause because I believe. No
physical laws have been excepted.
3. Creation. I think one's relationship to Creation and a Creator or "first
cause" is personal, subjective and neither provable nor disprovable and
therefore outside the domains of science, logic or the Laws of Physics.  I
think these sidetrips get in the way of useful and stimulating discussions
of important lepidopteron issues (but that's just one man's opinion of
moonlight as they say).
4. Glassberg books.  I've said this before too:  The Glassberg books have
and continue to fill an important niche market for user friendly field
guides for people who are new to lepidoptery and will have their first good
looks at butterflies in natural resting positions in the field through the
new technology of high-quality close-focus binoculars. It is a simplified
introduction to a complex and tremendously fascinating and engaging subject.
Whether some or many of those so introduced will move on to serious studies,
better books and important scientific contributions is an unknown.  Some
will, some won't.  Many will move on to looking at dragonflies, tiger
beetles, wasps and whatever else becomes visible through the technology.  So
what?
4. The lunatic fringe. Extremists of most any stripe distract from the
important issues.  I think that the extreme points of view that keep coming
around to various lists exist only to the extent that they provoke extreme
reactions from ordinary folk.  Let them howl at the moon by themselves.
5. Listserves. I do Leps-talk, Leps-L, CT-leps, VA-MD-DE-Bugs.  I like them
all quite a bit.  It's a biodiversity of News/Discussion groups.


Regards'

Bill Yule
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenn Kaufman" <kennk at ix.netcom.com>
To: "leps-talk" <TILS-leps-talk at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 2:13 AM
Subject: [leps-talk] Mission: educating watchers


>
> We frequently see discussion here of the anti-collecting, anti-science
> agenda being promoted by one segment of the butterfly-watching community.
> As an example of an alternate approach, it's worth knowing about the
> Texas Butterfly Festival, held this last weekend at Mission in the lower
> Rio Grande Valley.  Organized by the Mission Chamber of Commerce, this
> festival caters to watchers, especially novices, with field trips,
> daytime seminars, and evening talks.  This year's was the seventh annual
> festival, and although I don't know the total attendance, it was
> certainly into the low hundreds.
>
> The field trips were conducted with binoculars, not nets, but they had
> some top-notch leaders -- the likes of Jim Brock, Charlie Sassine, Mike
> Quinn, and others -- people who certainly know the importance of
> collecting.  The daytime seminars had a healthy attitude:  for example,
> John and Gloria Tveten showed lots of moth slides, and stated up front
> that they had voucher specimens to back up their determinations;  Mike
> Overton talked about field identification, and made it clear that he knew
> the challenges of things like Calephelis metalmarks because he had
> collected and dissected these species.  The evening talks were just as
> overt in their attitude.  The first evening, Bob Pyle gave a wide-ranging
> and wonderful talk about butterflies, and his slides included an
> affectionate portrait of his trusty net, "Marsha," as well as a number of
> in-the-hand butterflies.  He stated quite eloquently the point that our
> current knowledge comes almost entirely from collectors, and that we
> should all get along on a cordial level.  I spoke the second evening (on
> the topic of "Butterflies Are Not Birds") and I was more blunt about it:
> "Continued collecting is essential for both science and conservation.
> Collectors have never caused the extinction of a butterfly species, but
> anti-collectors might cause some to go extinct without their ever having
> been discovered."   On the third evening, John Acorn delivered his blend
> of humor, music, and serious insight, and he also made the point that
> collectors are the source of knowledge, not the "bad guys" in the story.
>
> If there were any Anti-Net Nazis in the crowd, they never said a word,
> and they got an earful of the more balanced attitude.  I think this
> festival is worth noting because it proves that you can promote
> butterfly-watching without slipping into an anti-collecting or
> anti-science mode (thus, there's nothing inevitable about the Glassberg
> agenda, and other approaches are equally possible).
>
> Kenn Kaufman
> Tucson, AZ
>
>
>
>
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