Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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The cosmos is a gigantic fly wheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it. Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him the ride.
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Acoelomorph flatworms and precambrian evolution
Vertebral variation, Hox genes, development, and cancer
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Category:
Posted on: July 17, 2007 3:26 PM, by PZ Myers
Blake Stacey has taken the first step towards becoming another Mike Godwin or Bruce Salem*: Blake's Law has a Wikipedia page.
*Relative obscurity, known only for a kneejerk phrase on the web?
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Comments
All well-known phrases start from humble, small beginnings. If you doubt this is possible, how is there are PYGMIES + DWARFS!!?
Posted by: Blake Stacey, OM | July 17, 2007 3:31 PM
And the Wikipedia entry cites PZ as some kind of trafficker or something. Trafficker in terminology?
And congrats to Blake, now semi-famous forever.
Posted by: Zeno | July 17, 2007 3:31 PM
That was relatively quick for a wiki to appear about it...
Posted by: Shawn Wilkinson | July 17, 2007 3:34 PM
Taking bets on how long before it gets proposed for deletion for non-notability?
Posted by: Zombie | July 17, 2007 3:37 PM
Why not Stacey's Law? Too girly?
Posted by: Rey Fox | July 17, 2007 3:46 PM
Zombie:
I was thinking "less than a day", actually. If it were anybody else's Law, my vote (or !vote, or whatever they're called) would be a merge to some other article.
Posted by: Blake Stacey, OM | July 17, 2007 3:46 PM
Well, I've done my initial part in keeping it alive. I'll be sure to reference it when I comment on an appropriate topic.
Posted by: Bronze Dog | July 17, 2007 3:59 PM
Completely off topic, but the impending death penalties of the Tripoli Six (the Bulgarian doctor + nurses in Libya) have been turned into life sentences...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/libya/story/0,,2128643,00.html
Posted by: forsen | July 17, 2007 4:18 PM
Zombie's right - it won't last very long. But thanks to Bronze Dog, it will probably have to go through AFD, which it give it 5 days post-nomination. Pharyngula is a start - now could we get Dawkins to use it? Maybe someone here has a gig with NYTimes? Anyone? :)
Posted by: IanR | July 17, 2007 4:34 PM
Taking bets on how long before it gets proposed for deletion for non-notability?
too late. it's already been marked as such.
Posted by: cleek | July 17, 2007 4:41 PM
I dunno; the problem with his law as currently formulated, is that (unlike Godwin's Law) it does not have the element of time and/or amount of discussion altering the probability.
Here's Blakes law from wikipedia:
"In any discussion of atheism (skepticism, etc.), the probability that someone will compare a vocal atheist to religious fundamentalists increases to one."
It's missing the cause-and-effect element. Should be something like "As the length of any discussion of atheism grows, the probablility ..." (And it really should be "approaches one")
It might be better to propose it as "Blake's corollary" to Godwin's law, and adopt that law's cause-and-effect structure.
Posted by: divalent | July 17, 2007 5:24 PM
Same here and I've already got me a nice troll for a roast in the comments.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp` | July 17, 2007 5:29 PM
Someone needs to book you on The Colbert Report; do you have a book to promote? (remember: publish or perish) It's only a matter of time before there are wanton PZ groupies, or do you have to fend off co-eds by the dozens already? Pygmies and dwarves(bwa haa haw)...
Posted by: Jsn | July 17, 2007 5:35 PM
Looks like it's already been merged with the Pharyngula entry.
Posted by: CP | July 17, 2007 5:43 PM
Some people just don't understand what wikipedia is for. I've made up terms before, and they aren't on wikipedia either. They kind of have to catch on first.
Posted by: Dayv | July 17, 2007 6:11 PM
I thought Bruce was best known for his back yard: Salem's Lot.
Posted by: Peter McGrath | July 17, 2007 6:42 PM
Not bad for a head popping thought. I hope the meme doesn't go extinct. (Especially if the unwikifying will occur - it should be a constraint on discussions.)
Btw, there is a 'corollary' to ""Blake's corollary" to Godwin's law": As the accumulated length of any office walks grows, the probability that a head pop occurs approaches one. :-P
Posted by: Torbjörn Larsson, OM | July 17, 2007 8:08 PM
Blake's awesomeness knows no bounds! Outside of Wikipedia, I mean.
I'd bat my eyelashes, or something, if I, you know, like, did that.
Posted by: Kseniya | July 17, 2007 8:44 PM
Shouldn't the entry read "frequent commentator and Order of the Molly recipient Blake Stacey"?
Someone with a Wikipedia account fix that, will 'ya? I'm too lazy to register.
Posted by: Carlie | July 17, 2007 9:00 PM
Make that MEMBER of the Order of Molly. Or maybe recipient of the Molly Award.
Posted by: Rey Fox | July 18, 2007 12:38 AM
I just looked now, and thought "Wow, that's incredibly conceited of PZ, to put this post up which links to the Pharyngula wiki entry". Then I checked: they've just merged the entries. Poor Blake, being assimilated into the Pharyngula mind-hive.
And then go through the Pharyngula page and change all the spellings of Myers. It's just not right, having so many correct spellings in one place.Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | July 18, 2007 1:11 AM
"Relative obscurity, known only for a kneejerk phrase on the web?"
With apologies to Peter McGrath, you're saying that this is Salem's lot in life?
Posted by: Ginger Yellow | July 18, 2007 3:38 AM
Ginger: chapeau!
Posted by: Peter McGrath | July 18, 2007 5:08 AM