Re: bauplan convergence (EXTREMELY SARCASTIC!)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/20/00 12:18:49 PM EST, Chapman.Ralph@NMNH.SI.EDU writes:

<< If George or Garth wish to remain in just-so land, as George has
 demonstrated almost daily for a long time on the list, they have the right
 to. Just don't malign the great work that is being done by loads of
 paleontologists  all the time. >>

I don't think I've maligned anybody's work, Ralph. You've been working with 
pachycephalosaurs for many years now. Wouldn't you give your right arm to 
actually >see< a bunch of pachys in the field and have their actual behavior 
confirm/deny the conclusions you have reached? I work with four-dimensional 
objects, of which I maintain a pretty decent mental image in my mind when I 
think about them and discover new ones. But I would >really< like to see one 
in the flesh--something that is, unfortunately, at least as unlikely as 
traveling to the past (and these are objects whose existence can be >proved< 
100%). I agree that a scientific approach to dinosaurs is the only valid way 
to study their behavior, but my point is that until we can confirm these 
studies empirically, we're only constructing Just So Stories. Elaborate ones, 
but stories just the same, stories that can and are rewritten with the advent 
of new data and new approaches.