ira flatow spoke at politics & prose last night and it was awesome. i sat in the back row taking down notes on my tiny flip pad with a clicky pen like i had a real scoop while my friends pointed and laughed. he talked about the 'dismal state of science journalism today' and how 'smart people are on the internet, while stupid people are on tv.' then he mentioned dinosaurs and my companion shat a brick and i missed a bit, but caught back up as he went into how scientists, if they're the real deal, should and will argue amongst each other. he made a comparision to a press conference with scientists versus politicians and how at a scientific press conference, people will read a report, ask for the facts to back it up, and try to tear apart the argument to see if it holds up. can you imagine saying to a politician, 'just give me the facts, Senator.' why doesn't that ever happen?
then he explained how a plane flies. its really simple = air goes down, plane goes up. write it down. seriously, why couldn't ira flatow have taught my first two semesters of college science? maybe then i wouldn't be trying to explain a marijuana-induced GPA against my subtle yet superior intellect in my grad school essays.
my friend bought his book and we stood in line to have him sign it. she asked if dinosaurs really hallucinated themselves into extinction because the proliferation of angiospores in the environment fucked them all up. i really wanted to ask if he was in that movie 'crazy people' with dudley moore and darryl hannah where he played the one mental patient who only ever said 'hello.' i chickened out and later looked it up on my bberry while we ate pizza at comet.
it wasn't him. it was this guy.
i love that movie.
1 comment:
i'd like to point out that a) the hallucinogen-extinction theory came directly from an lsat question and b) he didn't refute it exactly. so there.
Post a Comment