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  1. Fred Thornton
    September 3, 2022 @ 11:13 am

    The author used an apt analogy: petri dishes. I’ll stay with his analogy for my comment, it’s very well suited to the subject. Petri dishes, that allow a scientist working in the realms of biology to keep multiple and highly controlled micro-environments in his laboratory to be compared across the run of some experiment. Fair enough, and most likely quite an accurate analogy. That said, the reason for an analogy in the first place is to open a wider vista of perception, to provide a framework for inductive reasoning beyond what is immediately visible. Petri dishes are under the control of some scientist, some lab technician working the will of a scientist… even if that scientist defined the procedure and then died many centuries before.

    I’m not saying the author is wrong, not even. Still, one man’s analogy is another man’s mode of thought. Working from the analogy the questions now instantly become: “What lab?” “Which scientist(s)?” “What experiment?” “Who is sponsoring the research, and what do they hope to gain?” “Who is running this show, or is the janitor just goofing around where an amateur doesn’t belong?”

    Am I the only one who feels a bit of concern at having my life and times analogized to a bunch of bugs living under the digital microscope of party or parties unknown? Should I say that just because they call themselves a scientist it’s OK for them to play God over the lives of any and all who cross their sight? Not hardly. That’s the politician’s job and we don’t need any more help in that department. Politicians, you know, that gray fuzzy scum growing around the edge of all the dishes.

Watchman, what of the night?