[Taxacom] Clade age

[Richard Jensen]

Curtis,

Unfortunately, the one thing you and John agree on is a mistake.  
Definitions do matter.  They are essential for understandable 
communication.  If you are allowed to define "science" by your criteria, 
and I am allowed to define it by a different set of properties, then how 
can we ever communicate effectively?  It's the old apples and oranges 
(and, no, I'm not a Herman Cain supporter) confusion.  Both are fruits 
and share a variety of properties, but they are not, by definition, the 
same thing!

John has made this argument before and it appears to be part of the 
problem in communicating with him.  His definitions often are quite 
different from those that many (most!) of us use and that only serves to 
create confusion and a lot of unnecessary exchanges on Taxacom.

Cheers,

Dick J

On 11/11/2011 11:06 PM, Curtis Clark wrote:
> On 11/11/2011 5:52 PM, John Grehan wrote:
>> Which is why definitions don't matter.
> And at last we agree.
>

-- 
Richard J. Jensen, Professor
Department of Biology
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Tel: 574-284-4674