A Collection of Sub-cosmic Concerns

I recently commented on Kelly's blog and it occurs to me that my comments might not fully embody my views on the subject.  The topic involved covert infidelity and it is this subject that I want to address here.

 I should begin by acknowledging that infidelity is built into our species (see this video and this one). Everything about the dimorphic human form indicates that Homo sapiens evolved in the context of polygamous or promiscuous reproductive strategies, and if one is not convinced by comparative morphology, one need only refer to behavioral statistics. Indeed, female humans average more sexual partners per lifetime than any other animal known (owing primarily to the skew from prostitution), and it is no secret that many male humans seek as many sexual partners as possible, regardless of marital status.

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On more occasions than I can enumerate, I have been asked the question: Why do you like those darn reptiles? Not wanting to appear irresolute, for many years I tried to answer the question in a way that presented an air of purpose. I might reply that their behavior is complex and fascinating, or that I wondered what it might be like to experience the world as a snake does, what with the challenges of lacking certain appendages. As a biologist with a special interest in and experience with reptiles, I could get pretty specific about why I find those otherworldly vertebrates interesting, but are those reasons, however erudite, really why I am especially attracted to reptiles?

Why not birds? I find them quite agreeable, even fascinating. Indeed, as a young man I spent countless hours watching birds and I even built up a “life list” of over 300 species. Why not mammals? I like them too, though I find them rather messy and stinky. Still, there is something about a wild wolverine or a mongoose that piques my curiosity, and I am pretty fond of bats and wild cats, too. How about fishes? I have quite a lot of experience with that branch of the Vertebrata, too. As an undergraduate, I worked in a fish systematics lab for 3 ½ years, and since that time my research has included fish behavior. And what about invertebrates and plants? I really like those organisms, too.

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Those familiar with Open2it from its early days will readily discern that this blog represents a small change of format. After considering my place in this community, I decided to move my blog into the threaded community blog. I really like the intermingling of blog posts by all Open2it members and, frankly, I felt a bit left out in having a separate blog. From now on, my shorter contributions will appear among those of other members, while my longer notes will be assigned as either Articles or Essays.

Something that has fired more than a few neurons in my brain is a fundamental duality in science: the relative importance of ideas and data. Science, for those who are rusty on the nuts and bolts, is about hypothesis testing. There is a procedural formula for scientific research that proceeds from ideas to data gathering to analysis to answering questions and finally to asking new questions based on what was learned. The process is rather unending, which is appealing to some, but it boils down to a back and forth between ideas and data.

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