Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site bbncca.ARPA Path: utzoo!linus!bbncca!rrizzo From: rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) Newsgroups: net.misc Subject: Re: The Probability of Life from Non-life Message-ID: <553@bbncca.ARPA> Date: Wed, 8-Feb-84 12:57:44 EST Article-I.D.: bbncca.553 Posted: Wed Feb 8 12:57:44 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Feb-84 22:35:59 EST References: <1597@cbscc.UUCP> Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma. Lines: 26 The stupidity of Paul Dubuc & A. Ray Miller is truly awesome, & like any laborious achievement, such as the Pyramids, the marvel is not so much how it was accomplished but why. The real threat posed by "creationists" & their ilk is not to wear us out by endless argument but, like the threat of pollution, to bury us in garbage by never shutting up (maybe they take an oath?). Conscientious replies like John Hobson's & Richard Harter's are laudable but have no effect on "creationists" except to provide them with quota- tions to further extend their lengthy articles. I think we should grant Dubuc's request & give "creationism" its own mailing list. It could be named "net.futility", or, better yet, made an ARPAnet group, "fa.futility" : compiling digests would be easy since the editor would simply broadcast a zero-length message every two weeks. That way if "creationists" still sent mail to other lists, we could flame back with net.jokes.d-style rebukes such as "This is not the non- sense mailing list, idiot! Post to net.futility or get scorched!!" Even a newsgroup for miscellaneous items ought to observe minimum stan- dards of intelligibility & content. Cheers, Ron Rizzo