wirtatmar{at}aol.com (Wirt Atmar) wrote in
news:cmhghv$q1u$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

> Phillip writes:
> 
>>If no one has put forward the idea that tumours may evolve into organs
>>I here by stake my claim to this theory ;-). What we need is some sort
>>of central registry of evolutionary theories. While we're at it 
>>another registry for theories of sex.
> 
> That "registry" already exists and has for several hundred years. It's
> called the peer-reviewed literature. The first publication date of an
> idea is the one that assumes priority. It really doesn't matter where
> you publish your ideas. Mendel's work appeared in a little-read Swiss
> agricultural journal, but it was published. When his theories and
> genetical phenomena were independently rediscovered at the end of the
> century, and it was found that he had published the same work 40 years
> earlier, all credit was given to Mendel. 
> 
> Similarly but obversely, if a theory is never published, it is given
> little or no weight. Talk and usenet groups are cheap. They simply
> don't count, although self-publishing sometimes does work. Charles
> Darwin and Stephen Wolfram both chose to self-publish their own work,
> but that creates, as it should, a much higher hurdle to clear for
> general acceptance. 
> 
> Unfortunately, publishing in peer-reviewed literature is a difficult
> task, if for no other reason than to be published, you have to back up
> your ideas with demonstrable proof that they could at least be true.

Unfortunately even that is not always enough. Apparently a canadian 
geologist named Lawrence Morley was unable to get a paper on seafloor 
spreading published in the 1960's because the idea, even though true, was 
so totally outside of the accepted wisdom at the time. Usenet groups 
suffer from the opposite problem - there is so much accepted ignorance 
(not necessarily a bad thing - the overall level of knowledge still 
increases) that even patently worthless ideas get attention.

Yours,

Bill Morse
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 11/7/04 9:59:05 PM