Back when I was a wee pup in the late 60s, it seemed to me that there were two kinds of people interested in science. One was composed of UFO advocates, ESP and pyramid power believers, a few who were convinced that Greek, Roman, or Egyptian deities were alien astronauts. There was even a distinct subgroup who, based mostly on their religious beliefs, fervently opposed the death penalty, condemned all war for any reason including self defense, and argued that science proved the earth was only a few thousand years old. The other group was a bunch of hard-nosed, educated, pragmatic skeptics. They thought it foolish to unilaterally disarm in the face of growing numbers of Soviet ICBMs, they embraced data, science, factual evidence and reasonable inference. Aware of history, they were deeply distrustful of Big Government, they demanded personal responsibility, transparency, and accountability, they were sticklers for the rule of law, and professed great respect for the Constitution of the United States.
OK, maybe my perception was skewed, but I grew up thinking of liberals as shaggy haired idealists who thought they could fix anything by slapping a peace sign on their VW van, holding hands, and singing hymns. They might be talented artists, great writers, or likable dreamers, but they were a little kooky. Whereas conservatives were the realists who rolled up their sleeves, went to work, and got things done. If I'm looking for someone to design a suspension bridge, I'll take the guy who knows what a hyperbolic cosine is over the chap who thinks he can bend spoons with his mind.
Talk about your crazy-ass role reversals: Fast forward to the New Millennium and science -- along with the rule of law, the Bill of Rights, and damn near everything else -- has been mostly rejected by today's bizarre cartel of neocons and theocons. Thankfully, liberals, independents, and old fashioned Goldwater Republicans have picked up the ball. So it should be no surprise that science plays a significant role in our progressive movement, and therefore in YearlyKos Convention 2007.
We are hoping to have a panel dedicated purely to science and a science bloggers caucus to boot at YKC. Before going into the details, I'd first like to thank the many science bloggers, authors, and others who volunteered to contribute to this year's convention. Indications of interest began coming in within days of last year's successful showing. Dozens of science champions generously offered to pay their own way. Many of them have been snapped up by other panel organizers. And it wasn't easy for any of us to select just a handful out of so many stellar candidates for the limited number of slots available at your convention.
Assuming we are able to work it into the schedule, YKC has invited author and blogger Chris Mooney, Professor Sean Carroll, and Ed Brayton to speak at the panel. In addition we've asked Professor PZ Myers to help moderate the science bloggers caucus. If you have any suggestions or requests for any of these gentlemen, you can state them in comments below, direct them to me, or contact the speakers at their respective blogs.
We hope to see you there! This is an open science thread.
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