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Re: The (ugh!) "Voyager" dino-show...
This is a bit harsh. Let's look at some of the positive features of this
episode.
> misidentified Eryops, a Permian amphibian, as a mammal-reptile link
How many viewers had ever heard of _Eryops_ before this, much less seen a
reconstruction on a
television programme? How many might be curious enough to look up some
information on the beast
for themselves? Actually, they characterized _Eryops_ as "a last common
ancestor" of reptiles and
mammals.
> and a Parasaurophulus as a dinosaur "of the genus Hadrosaur"
I cringed, too. But, then, you don't normally hear the word "hadrosaur"
bandied about on TV,
either.
> third of the program before becoming so sickened that I turned it to an
> origami program, Hell,
> anything's better than "Voyager"!
The real theme of the episode was the saurian molecular palaeontologist's
attempts to show his
species originated on a distant planet (i.e., Earth), contra "Doctrine," which
asserted they had always
inhabited their "Quadrant," and that the saurians shared "47 genetic markers"
with humans. His conflict
with Authority resulted in his being condemned by his society's religious
leaders, who refused to accept
scientific evidence that conflicted with tradition. It was a saurian version of
Galileo's trial, and the
palaeontologist was forced to recant his ideas, abandon his research, and
switch to metallurgy, a field in
which he had no interest.
Sure, there was dumbing-down and hokeyness; yet, the writers' message of
evolutionary
relationships, science against superstition, and the obstinate, willful refusal
of vested religious interests
to consider evidence objectively may have sparked some independent thinking on
the part of a few
viewers. "Voyager" is meant to be entertainment, not a documentary.
--------------------
-= Tuck =-
tuckr@digital.net
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