Harry Pavulaan's gift to PETA?

[neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk]

Collecting butterflies is scientific. It is a defence that I have been putting over to people for many years. I am a  collector. It is usually live insects so that I can study the life cycle. I don't have a butterfly collection.  It isn't my thing. I study living butterflies.I actually have some live butterflies that emerged in my bedroom just this morning. They will go into the greenhouse after I have finished writing this.

I_DO_NOT_WANT_TO_SEE_COLLCTING_BANNED. I have to shout. I have been saying this for about 8 years on the internet and still someone will occasionally argue that I do.

However some people like PETA types do want to see it banned.

Harry said" "Whichever side may be logical or illogical, I'll await evidence showing that butterfly releases are detrimental." 

This is a gift to the animal rights lobby. I am not trying to attack Harry. In fact I am trying to be helpful so that we both get what is in our common interest, by pointing out how dangerous his argument is I hope that he _AND_OTHERS will think more carefully. I would love to do some work along side you guys on the life cycles of the Celastrinas and that exiting new Papilio in the appalachians. I am not your enemy.

Collectors are scientists. That is the defence. However, Harry has just provided evidence which a sneaky PETA type could use to disprove that.

What is a scientist?. Well to find out what the word means you look in a dictionary. In this case I have consulted that largest and best dictionary of the English Language. The Oxford English Dictionary, or O.E.D for short. Its 20 massive volumes fill 2 shelves at my local library and there are several definitions of the word. Some are very obscure uses of the word but the one that fits here is:-

 "A person using scientific methods."

What do we mean by scientific methods?

Well here we have another definition from the O.E.D that helps. That of the word "logic". It is:-

"The branch of philosophy that treats of the forms of thinking in general, and more especially of the scientific method".

What did Harry say? He said that he didn't care which one was more logical. In other words he didn't care which one used the scientific method. PETA types could very easily develop this argument to say that 
collectors aren't scientists. 

Without the rules of logic we have no science. What ever your value judgements on evidence or precaution in this instance, if you make or defend an argument that violates logic, the core of the scientific method, you are not being scientific.

-- 
Neil Jones- Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.nwjones.demon.co.uk/
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn Bog National Nature Reserve


 
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