Rather than rely on ad hominems you might want to do what I suggested - fact check.

You know.., it's up to you. Unless of course ad hominems are good enough.


Thanks, Roy.

Now if you'll excuse me; I have to go to the zoo to play a game with a certain monkey that has a gambling problem.

It looks like another program to treat gambling addicted monkeys and to reorient mountain lions to their natural habitat may be needed.
I heard some of the monkeys escaped to Las Vegas. The really weird thing is that humans get into gambling voluntarily while we have to train monkeys to get them into it.
I made up the Las Vegas story, so don't fact check that.

This sounds about as silly as trying to get bacteria to grow on mold. But hey, there's no telling where serendipity will strike, leading to a breakthrough that could be worth trillions in aid.

Not that I would defend some of the ridiculous experiments in ant's post. Why the hell are we funding these things?

I heard one of the monkeys applied for a job at The Venetian Casino.

I bet you're one of those nasty ol' Conservatives that's anti science!
Give me back my voodoo doll! I need it for the next election!!

The monkey's winnings could be donated to the World wildlife fund. So if they got lucky and broke the bank of Monte Carlo it would be a worthwhile project.
The down side would be monkeys on Skid Row. Buddy can you spare a banana!

I think their winnings are paid out in bananas.

That gives a whole new meaning to fruit machines! P.s Was there a paper published on this project?

yes - but it's written in monkey talk

So, back again to the the computer typing keypads for them. What a life!
A report in the" King Kong Chronicle" says that some got sidetracked to online gambling websites and blew half the government funded budget.
It goes on to say:
"To relieve the monotony of this challenging typing task, they were divided into relay teams so that alternating teams could take a break by doing synchronised swimming in a thoughtfully provided swimming pool, followed by Swedish massage."
The facts of these projects are not in doubt, except for my own fictional extras.
Here's an article that looks at and defends the justifications given for these programs. Readers can judge for themselves whether they succeed in this or not.
http://www.livescience.com/48435-scienc ... ebook.html

I can see some of this being true. I can also see some being a waste. But like the attempt to grow bacteria on mold(leading to the discovery of penicillin), you'll never know what sort of serendipitous knowledge springs from the silliest experiments. I agree we should be critical of where the money is going, but acknowledge that playing armchair quarterback is always done with too little information.

I had read a similar article to what Flann posted.
I agree with what you've said.
That and the insistence of transparency so that a determination can be made if any arguments proposed for continuing some of the more odd studies are not based on sunk cost fallacies.


I suggested people do their own research (fact checking).
Of course I was met with knee-jerk reactions and generalizations like "no need to cut science funding to help the needy!"

Ironically, it was the theist in the house that demonstrated the willingness and reasonableness to examine this further.



But my initial point/suggestion still stands.

no that was no knee-jerk reaction, i was simply pointing out that the massive spending on the military industrial complex amounts to trillions which could be better spent on science AND helping the needy rather than destroying lives in foreign countries in the name of the american people.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-war-on-waste/

ant, it is so straightforward

there was talk of cutting science funding to help the needy.

i simply pointed out that the military spending was a far better target.

the elephant in the room so to speak.