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Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 13:42:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: [unknown]
To: Phylocode <phylocode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu>
Cc: David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
Subject: Re: Multiple definitions? was Re: Stormbergia dangershoeki
David Marjanovic (david.marjanovic@gmx.at) wrote: <The ISPN or CPN will need to invite _lots_ of authors to contribute = to the=20 Companion Volume, even those who don't plan to use phylogenetic nomen= clature*, to make sure that we get names and definitions a) that as many people= as possible (!) will be able to live with, and b) that will not collapse= under their own weight within the next 20 or 30 years (...at least).> Then you have the partisanship to consider: Will I or will I not in= clude someone I am opposed to? Will I coin the name myself and put it in wi= thout anyone else knowing? Will I toss a definition out because I think the= name should be different? Will I put my own naming theories to practice to= edit the submissions? Will I use this opportunity to "fix" centuries of proble= ms like "Ceratopsia" into "Ceratopia" or simply do away with *Ceratops* altog= ether and use "Triceratopsia"? Will I invite only my friends to the party, or c= an know-nothing-BUT-up-and-coming students be allowed to contribute? Wil= l I use a topology only I and my friends agree on to support the definitions, f= or surely the multitude of topologies cannot support the same name with the def= inition given! In the end, it's a jury of your admiring peers, that decides the ca= se, not trial and error. Scientists can seek self-governance, can they not? B= y using a non-elitist system of review (the peerage of non-contributors) the sy= stem may actually work. By allowing non-partisan fellows to study the situatio= n, such as logicians, mathmaticians and biochemists and the like, perhaps the de= finitions and name applications will resemble something like a platypus (everyt= hing works together, but does it work with everything else?) I argue that the sy= stem must be one that is freely developable, one that can be edited to a degree= that not oe scrap of original material may be left in a decade, because change= is constant. A name, after all, is just a name, though the scent still a= s sweet. Cheers, Jaime A. Headden "Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969) =09=09 __________________________________=20 Yahoo! Music Unlimited=20 Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/