"I've previously been admonished "If you're not confused by now, you haven't been paying attention!""

It was my hope that I could teach a few folks some new stuff. Just sharing what I know.

But you're last comment there brings me to an important point. Science is not by any means, easy. The more you delve into it, especially physics, the stranger and stranger it all becomes. Just take some of the terms used in quantum physics. Particles have properties called "charge", "spin", & "color", none of which bear any resemblance to the ordinary everyday meanings of those words. For example, spin. Did you know that particles can have 1/2 integer spin? That is, a particle that has 1-1/2 spin has to turn 1-1/2 times before you see the same side? Well, it's not really like that, but quantum physics is such a strange place that there is no "real world" analogy that makes sense. One just has to accept things for what they are.

But my point, which I took a tangent from, is that I see a lot of people take swipes at "scientists" and I really feel it is due to their failure to understand the "science" they are swiping at. I can forgive simple ignorance, for I find it difficult to hold a person responsible for a simple lack of knowledge. But I do have difficulty with those who appear to go out of their way to avoid learning and understanding.

As someone who is knowledgeable about many subjects beyond what the normal layperson would have, I have to admit to a certain level of exasperation when confronted with a person who at first seems simply ignorant of some facts, but then turns on you when you try to educate them so that they can understand better. It's a constant challenge to me to not just scream out at some people at times for being total utter idiots that couldn't come up with 2+2=4 even if they cheated. From that, I can see where many would find it irresistible to go off on an individual for being a nut job or what have you.

It can be difficult to NOT ridicule a person at times. I try not to, but I fail at times. I attempt to reserve ridicule for those at the extreme who deserve it. I try to stick to "just the facts, ma'am". But I'll be the first to admit I don't always. But if I chose to go down that path, I at least try to temper it.

One of my webpages is a section of a book which outlines a multitude of ways in which people make logical errors. At the bottom of this page is a section about a statement made by Baruch Spinoza, a 17th century Dutch philosopher, which addresses this very issue,

"I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them."

Brian