Re: When Dinosaurs Disappointed

[carlo godel <regiaero@gj.net>]

As I related earlier I think it is our responsibility to get off our collective
butts and write to the producers of these programs and tell them what we expect
not as paleontologists but as viewers of the program. It is surprising what a 
few
letters will produce as the vast majority of people do not care enough to talk
about this subject let alone write about it. A $0.15 pen and $0.33 stamp will
bring results, not right away, but it will eventually, don't tell them what you
didn't like, tell them what you want...
Carlo

Philidor11@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 8/26/99 7:16:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> Dinogeorge@aol.com writes:
>
> <<  On the other hand, baseball, in this country, of course is a religion,
> and any errors in the  statistics (RBI, ERA, etc., etc.) generated by that
> sport are viewed as
>  heresy. Every beer-bellied bonehead knows his baseball statistics (to place
>  bets, naturally), and announcers who don't get them right to the last
> decimal
>  place are pilloried.  >>
>
> As someone pointed out in another post, remember that half the people in this
> country are below the median in intelligence.  Let me reassure you that most
> discussions of 'facts' will produce enough incorrect information to leave you
> bewildered.  The wide availability of computers and TV time to fill has
> increased the amount of half-recollected information to such an extent that
> people can be wrong but definite more often than ever before.  You know the
> feeling if you've ever started to talk about a subject and realize you're not
> sure exactly what your TV source had said on the subject.
> If you're wise, you start to hedge.  Working in a field where hedging is an
> art, I can say that proper phrasing allows you to be completely wrong and
> still demonstrate that you had predicted your error perfectly.
>
> <<No money in dinosaur science (usually). In this country, money =
> importance.
> Note how the sale of Sue's skeleton brought the media out of the woodwork.
> Didn't give a damn about Sue's scientific value, only how many millions the
> bones brought at auction.>>
>
> Now, news is people yelling at each other.  The arrest of paleontologists,
> amateur or professional, is also intriguing to the public.  There are also
> Indians and public demonstrations and the dinosaur her/himself.  If only a
> Club Med had been in sight of the dig the story would not have died for years.
> People make and lose millions all the time without getting much attention.
> As far as accuracy is concerned, from my observations the narration follows a
> thread to parallel fiction.  The writer frequently also has assumptions he
> does not realize may have been questioned since he took a course himself.
> Problem with a field which has changed recently.  I'm surprised that every
> show does not have an advisor who approves the script before it is produced
> for accuracy.
> My own peeve is why the programs I've seen always seem to be stuck at basic,
> introductory information, like no one has ever seen a program about dinos
> before.  Even multiple episode series seem to broaden the topics of the basic
> information they are presenting rather than going deeper into a more limited
> range of topics.  That leaves someone who already knows a bit about the topic
> reviewing the special effects.
> When someone starts the dinosaur channel on cable that will solve the
> problem.  I suspect that we'll have a hercules/xena channel and there must
> already be a star trek channel, but I'm very patient.