Spontaneous Generation and You....

[Sk8r]

Spontaneous Generation is an ancient theory for the origin of things: dead carcasses left in the sun produce flies, earth produces snakes, etc....
This belief belongs to the Roman era. Not the 21st century.

Animal life comes from animal reproduction. Plant life comes from seed, runners, spores, cell division, etc. Just sayin'.

Ich and algae, same story: you do not produce ich by stressing fish and it isn't always present. Ich is an animal with a life cycle involving sucking nutrients from fish, like mini-vampires. You do not produce algae if you do not have algae bits. You do not produce cyanobacteria by any process. It's a real ancient bacterial sheet that photosynthesizes and reproduces itself by cell division.

Biology 101.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I love it when you talk science!

 

[nereefpat]

I love it. Thank you, Louis Pasteur.

 

[MondoBongo]

say it louder for the people in the back!

it astounds me that a hobby ruled by science and observation is so prone to magical thinking.

 

[Ron Reefman]

say it louder for the people in the back!

it astounds me that a hobby ruled by science and observation is so prone to magical thinking.

That's not just this hobby my friend. That's a contagion that seems to overtaking much of this country! Do they even teach science in school any more?:wavehand:

 

[gone fishin]

I cringe when I see posts about things magically appearing, Thanks for the lesson.

 

[ca1ore]

say it louder for the people in the back!

it astounds me that a hobby ruled by science and observation is so prone to magical thinking.

Astounding perhaps, but not really surprising. Collectively humans are stupid. Recently had a conversation with a chap who was seriously arguing for Nessie. Seriously, puhleeeze .... Given the things folks believe in, mystical proclivities around the reef tank seems right in line.

PS - just binge watched the entire Frnge TV series. Even Walter Bishop calls spontaneous combustion poppycock :lol:

 

[Sk8r]

I so wish that a certain network would stop giving us endless 'Bermuda Triangle," "Atlantis", "Nessie", and other yawners and just give us some of the really good and high production values science offerings I pick up on Curiosity Stream and Prime. They're out there. THings like How the Universe Works, (which is on Science) and Becoming Human, First Footprints, and Australia's First Four Billion Years, which are so worth a watch and rewatch.

 

[Ron Reefman]

When I was in sales my manager told me that 80% of my business would come from 20% of my customers and that the other 80% of my customers would only be 20% of my business.

Then she said that when god handed out brains the same percentages applied. That 20% of the people got 80% of the brains and the other 80% of the people are dumb as rocks! Sometimes I think she was right!

 

[Elricsfate]

I'm wondering what inspired this post. You must have seen or read something that made you decide to write this when you did, as opposed to the day before or the day after.

While I do agree that things don't magically appear in our tanks, I don't entirely agree with the add on comments. There have been a number of species we thought were extinct until we found them again. And the notion that we understand how the universe works is questionable. We understand, to some degree, the things we know about. The number of things we do not know about is incalculable, by definition.

As far as the networks go...fiction has always sold better than non-fiction. It's just the nature of human beings to wonder, and suspect, and investigate, and hope, and believe. So they sell us stories, and we buy them.

Lastly, I can tell you for an absolute fact, as someone who works in the US Intelligence Community, that some of the things the majority of the public believe are facts....are not.

However, I agree completely that with regard to this hobby we are better served by science and fact than fancy and conjecture.

 

[ca1ore]

As far as the networks go...fiction has always sold better than non-fiction. It's just the nature of human beings to wonder, and suspect, and investigate, and hope, and believe. So they sell us stories, and we buy them.

Agreed, though often 'fiction' is portrayed as 'non-fiction'. I wonder what percentage of the population believes in the loch ness monster, bigfoot, alien abductions or ghosts - I bet it's sizable. None of these things pass the common sense test, let alone scientific scrutiny ... yet they persist.

 

[MondoBongo]

That's not just this hobby my friend. That's a contagion that seems to overtaking much of this country! Do they even teach science in school any more?:wavehand:

my original post actually had a much broader scope to it, but i didn't want to offend. as i'm sure you know, science deniers tend to be an angry, shouty, bunch.

 

[Elricsfate]

Well, it is certainly not my desire to hijack the thread, but I do so enjoy these types of discussions.

With regard to belief in Bigfoot and Alien abductions, I will say this. How boring would it be if there were no more mysteries. No more campfire stories. No more howls in the dark of night that scare the crap out of you. If we one day were absolutely certain that we knew everything, a big part of what makes life worth living would be gone.

As far as science and its deniers goes...it is the nature of science to advance our best guess based on information currently available. "Scientists" have, in my lifetime, gone back and forth over such simple things as fat, cholesterol, popcorn... Pluto has been a planet, then not, then a planet again. We once printed textbooks stating that a bumblebee violates the laws of physics when it flies...then we figured it out. So while I think it would be a little stupid to "deny" something as well established as gravity, it's likely healthy to approach pronouncements from on high with a bit of skepticism. Because 10 or 20 years down the road new facts are discovered, and the pronouncement changes.

What we could all benefit from IMHO is the ability to simply convey thoughts and opinions, as well as facts, in a conversational manner. Because I can tell you for an absolute fact that no one learns anything when you start the conversation with "Listen here moron".

 

[roli112]

spontaneous generation is an ancient theory for the origin of things: Dead carcasses left in the sun produce flies, earth produces snakes, etc....
This belief belongs to the roman era. Not the 21st century.

Animal life comes from animal reproduction. Plant life comes from seed, runners, spores, cell division, etc. Just sayin'.

Ich and algae, same story: You do not produce ich by stressing fish and it isn't always present. Ich is an animal with a life cycle involving sucking nutrients from fish, like mini-vampires. You do not produce algae if you do not have algae bits. You do not produce cyanobacteria by any process. It's a real ancient bacterial sheet that photosynthesizes and reproduces itself by cell division.

Biology 101.

amen

 

[ca1ore]

With regard to belief in Bigfoot and Alien abductions, I will say this. How boring would it be if there were no more mysteries. No more campfire stories. No more howls in the dark of night that scare the crap out of you. If we one day were absolutely certain that we knew everything, a big part of what makes life worth living would be gone.

No disagreement there, seems to me that's what fiction is for though

As far as science and its deniers goes...it is the nature of science to advance our best guess based on information currently available. "Scientists" have, in my lifetime, gone back and forth over such simple things as fat, cholesterol, popcorn... Pluto has been a planet, then not, then a planet again. We once printed textbooks stating that a bumblebee violates the laws of physics when it flies...then we figured it out. So while I think it would be a little stupid to "deny" something as well established as gravity, it's likely healthy to approach pronouncements from on high with a bit of skepticism. Because 10 or 20 years down the road new facts are discovered, and the pronouncement changes.

Sure, as questions get 'answered' new ones become apparent. Skepticism is good, but how many 'ridiculous' things end up actually being true. Not many! I pride myself on being about the least gullible person I know, and if something I've judged to be absurd turns out to not be ... I'll be pleasantly surprised. Still hoping science is wrong and there are living Thylocenes running around :lol:

 

[rjjr1963]

Spontaneous Generation is an ancient theory for the origin of things: dead carcasses left in the sun produce flies, earth produces snakes, etc....
This belief belongs to the Roman era. Not the 21st century.

Animal life comes from animal reproduction. Plant life comes from seed, runners, spores, cell division, etc. Just sayin'.

Ich and algae, same story: you do not produce ich by stressing fish and it isn't always present. Ich is an animal with a life cycle involving sucking nutrients from fish, like mini-vampires. You do not produce algae if you do not have algae bits. You do not produce cyanobacteria by any process. It's a real ancient bacterial sheet that photosynthesizes and reproduces itself by cell division.

Biology 101.

While generally I would agree I do often wonder where it all started. Supposedly the universe sprang forth from a singularity which complicates the notion of cause and effect. What caused the big bang? Was it spontaneous generation? If the universe continues to expand infinitely it narrows the options.

 

[Sk8r]

A great question, which confounds the most brilliant minds of our day, but one fortunately which does not operate in our tanks.