John writes:


> To squash free thought and free speech is wrong and very dangerous.  
> The very heart of diversity is coexisting with those who think and act 
> differently than you do.

On the face of it, this seems like a very compelling argument. It appeals to the 
American sense of fair play, but there is absolutely nothing democratic about 
the determination of what is true and what is not.

In 1964, Richard Feynman, in a lecture to students at Cornell, made this point 
particularly explicit to his students when he said:

“How would we look for a new law? In general we look for a new law by the 
following process. First, we guess it. (laughter) Then we... Don't laugh. That's 
the damned truth. Then we compute the consequences of the guess... to see 
if this is right, to see if this law we guessed is right, to see what it would 
imply. And then we compare those computation results to nature. Or we say 
to compare it to experiment, or to experience. Compare it directly with 
observations to see if it works. 

“If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong. In that simple statement is the key 
to science. It doesn't make a difference how beautiful your guess is. It doesn't 
make a difference how smart you are, who made the guess or what his name 
is... (laughter) If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong. That's all there is to 
it.”

You can view this snippet of his lecture here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozF5Cwbt6RY

Let me also add this one more image of a different species of skink. Scincidae 
is the largest family of lizards, with more than 1200 species. Only a few are in 
transition to a fossorial existence, and to the best of my knowledge, no fully 
legless forms have yet evolved in the family, but some of its species are 
clearly moving in that direction.

In this image:

http://www.fws.gov/verobeach/images/programs/bluetail%20mole%20skink.jpg

you can see the general pattern of the reduction of the forelimbs prior to 
those of the hind limbs being repeated. 

Wirt Atmar

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