LostAngeles said:
There's nothing wrong with questioning Our Dear Master. In fact, I think that's encouraged and I appreciate Mr. Morris doing so. (Though I wish it had been done another way. It really seemed like he was simply out to snipe and attack at first.)
Judging from our seemingly learned posters though, it appears Mr. Morris is wrong and is about to be taken to school. (woodsheds are for beating, schools are for breaking the indvidual child's spirit! Oh, and learning.)
LA, thank you for your reply. However, I don't think I have been proved wrong. A brief review is in order.
1) Clustered Water
Randi said that water does not cluster, and I say that it does cluster.
Yahweh's response : "You are just being silly. Not because you are wrong, but because you are being pedant." His information actually confirms my description of Hydrogen Bonding.
Word games follow, he theorises that Penta's clusters aren't hydrogen bonds.
I don't think it's pedantic to point out this error. Randi made several long rants against Penta, based on the theme that water doesn't cluster. His attacks are based on a faulty premise.
2) The causes of arthritis
Oleron, who claims personal expertise in such matters, confirms my information as correct.
But Oleron is opposed to Gary Null, thus he is "perfectly willing to overlook the odd misunderstanding"
So, on points one and two, I'm proved correct, but Randi's supporters are willing to make excuses for him and ignore his errors.
Personally, I find Randi's errors too big and too frequent to ignore.
3) The Y chromosome
Here, look at BillHoyt's post. Essentially he confirms the information I gave.
I stated that the XY chromosomes exchanges genes. He confirms this.
I stated that it happens to a lesser degree on the Y chromosome. Bill points out that it's 95% less. I wasn't wrong, just not detailed enough for him. (thanks for the information, Bill, I'll bear that in mind)
I stated that the common ancestor " lived millions of years ago, rather than the few thousand years claimed by creationists."
Bill said "But, in fact, at least 6 different mosaics exist on this chromosome, pointing to an ultimate coalescent just a tad further back than a few thousand years. But whats a few orders of magnitude amongst friends?"
I
think they mean the same thing, if I understand him correctly.
There is one substantial point with which he disagrees with me. Randi's correspondant says we should "share the same Y chromosome" I interpret that as meaning exactly the same, Bill interprets it differently.
People are free to judge for themselves m what the word means.
Still there is no proof of substantial error on my part.
4) Underground Rivers and flowing water.
Ladewig responded "Karst formations are, in essence, flooded caves. " I'm not sure what his point is. What part of my claim is this disagreeing with?
I've not had any evidence to challenge the existence of underground streams, or the fact that water flows underground in various geology, not just in caves.
On these first four points, there's been nothing substantial to prove me wrong. Just one statement that wasn't precise enough, some disagreement about the meaning of certain terms, and general willingness to excuse Randi's mistakes.
My fifth point is the only one where someone has offered evidence of error.
5) Find a dry spot
Zep said "I don't know where you learned your geology, but you are clearly incorrect by a long way on your point 4. " (He obviously means 5)
I'll say that I learned my geology from consulting a number of geologists starting with
this guy and a number of others following. I asked the opinion of several geologists about Randi's statements, some of them on internet forums, a couple in person. I posted the information they gave me. I came to the conclusion that finding a dry spot is easy after several different geologists told me so.
My post perhaps didn't go into enough detail. Here's some advice the geologists gave me.
You drill two wells. One hits a small aquifer in the old lalke
deposits, and you get 10 gpm (yeah I know, I'm mixing English and Metric
units, so sue me
about it). Then you drop another well 20 meters
away, but this one hits those old streambed deposits, and you wind up
getting 800 gpm.
The point is that water yield from a well depends on the sediments it
happens to hit, the amount of water continaed in those sediments, and
the ease with which the water can flow thru those sediments to your
well. All of these factors can vary widely in a very short distance,
both horizontally and vertically, within the ground.
I stand by my point, locating good spots for wells is a hard task for an expert geologist. Random drilling would probably hit spots with tiny amounts of water.
I said in my original post "To be precise, nowhere is totally devoid of water, but in most spots the actual amount of water is miniscule, far too little to be of any use, which would be considered dry by most people."
Zep's post contradicts the information I have already been given by the geologists I consulted. I'll look into it. I'll seek advice. I might later revise my opinion based on further information.
Note, however, the dangers of basing your infotrmation on a single source, especially the internet.
For the moment, pending further research, I'll stand by my claim.
