Re: bird

[John Bois <jbois@umd5.umd.edu>]

On Thu, 3 Apr 1997, Steven S. Lazarus wrote:

> I have to agree with Bonnie Blackwell on Mr. Bois and his ideas, delusions,
> whatever they are.
     O.J. was found innocent because the evidentiary pattern of
his guilt was ignored.  E.T. is thought to exist because of
people's willingness to accept non-evidence.  I have observed a
_real_ pattern in Nature.  There are today practically no non-
stealthy egg layers.  Dinosaurs were at least predominantly non-
stealthy egg layers.  This is no random effect, no drift among
equivalent strategies.  It is a consequence of the effectiveness
of the various strategies.  And the transition from a biota
heavily invested in the one strategy, to a biota almost devoid of
it, occurred at the K/T.  This happened.  But it has been in the
details of these broad claims that I have upset people.  Fights
over such issues as: whether wings are valuable to rails that
possess them; whether pregnant mammals suffer high rates of
predation; whether grass is critical to ostrich survival; whether
the switch in strategies was caused by those which practiced
superior ones.  To me these are fascinating and productive
issues.  And they have engendered much spirited discussion.  It
_is_ my delusion that other curious individuals would also enjoy
this engagement.  But I have admitted that they take up too much
list time and have sworn off driving my own issues.  It is true I
have done this once before, but I have asked forgiveness because
I was over excited with a new idea.  If this is not sufficient
then I will swear off contributing altogether (I will take the
list's silence, either public or in personal messages, as a tacit
wish for me to do just that--but I will not take support as license), I
have no wish to stay where I am
not welcome!  Only please stop insulting me publicly with
cowardly un-specified attacks and inane analogies.  To these I
must respond.  By the way, while we're in court here, the record
will show that I have never attacked anyone personally without
having first been attacked myself.