On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 9:31 AM, Olin Elliott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >This is starting to sound like Asimov's Meritocracy branch of power. > > But how would a Meritocracy play in a time when even pronouncing the names > of foreign countries correctly gets you labeled an elitist? The Right has > sold America on the idea that anyone with a good education and the ability > to think critically is an "elitist" who couldn't possibly understand the > problems of soccer moms and joe six pack. What would they think of a > council of scientists, most of whom probably believe the earth is more than > six thousand years old and even in *gasp* evolution? Well, we just elected an elitist as president, by a substantial majority. Meanwhile, I'm wondering what the Conservapedia people are doing with the recently raised possibility that atomic decay rates vary with solar activity. I couldn't help immediately imagining somebody using that idea to show that the earth really is only a few thousand years old. Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
