Dearest Dib,

Forgive me for interjecting myself in a debate so scientifically over my head (pretty as my little head may be), but you must learn that when you get testy, you undermine your own argument.

Lowell has been, and continues to be, a perfect gentleman on this board.

I know you like it when I call you "dearest," so please take my advice, dearest dib, and keep it respectful.

Also, please go back and read all of Lowell's posts on this particular subject, including the comprehensive exegesis he provided me several digests ago.

And then hear this: Were there no dreamers in this world, we would be still living in the stone age.

Within the last few years, a doctor in Australia very "unscientifically" hypothesized that ulcers were not caused by eating spicy food or being a Type A personality, but rather by a common bacterium: H. Pylori, aka, helicobactor.

When he presented his findings at a peer conference, he was laughed off the stage.

Guess who had the last laugh? Guess what helps keep H. Pylori under control? The casein in spicy food. Guess what gives the bacterium the perfect culture in which to thrive? Milk. (The standard ulcer remedy for years.)

Please keep an open mind. It is quite possible to spar while keeping the debate friendly.

What we don't know about our universe if far greater than what we do.

Your friend,

Cathryn