…and this is a 
Guillermo Gonzalez does two smart things
Category: Creationism
Posted on: January 30, 2008 10:46 AM, by PZ Myers
That silly Iowa State physics fellow who was denied tenure has finally admitted to something sensible. First:
Gonzalez said in an e-mail Monday that he is applying for tenure-track positions in case the Regents do not act in his favor.
Good for him! Tenure denials happen all the time, and smart academics pick themselves up off the floor, brush off the debris, and move on. Turning it into a major trial in which your self-esteem and reputation are shackled to false notions that one must retain this one job is a recipe for further self-destruction. Move on, Guillermo! Liberty University and a host of other bible colleges need you!
The second thing needs a little work, but it's getting close, and it is accurate.
"I'm convinced that I was denied tenure because of my [credulous, unproductive, failed] research," he wrote in the e-mail.
OK, he actually wrote, "I'm convinced that I was denied tenure because of my intelligent design research," but it means exactly the same thing.
Now, if he really wants to move on into a new position, one thing he has to realize is that he has to stop doing the same old stupid things that cost him his first one … like wasting time with a flop of a research plan designed by theocratic ideologues.
Comments
GG was an Assistant Prof of Astronomy, not a physics guy. And he's now a Senior Fellow (sic) of the Discovery Institute, which means he'll be doing something like astrology next.
Posted by: Geoffrey Alexander | January 30, 2008 10:53 AM
Or, one could interpret thusly:
Anyhow, what are these anti-scientists whining about? At least the prominent "victims" usually end up in some kind of ministerial position, as did Carolyn Crocker:
Here she is, in a position just made for failed scientists, and she's still whining about "persecution." I don't know if I have more contempt for them for their inability to think, or for their constant self-pitying whingeing over "persecution."
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | January 30, 2008 11:04 AM
Maybe he could do research on all the gaps in the fossil record...or he could just get out teh fingerpaints and tinfoilhats, and produce pictures of people riding around on dinosaurs.
Posted by: ennui | January 30, 2008 11:06 AM
Does this mean it would be a wise career move to hold off on publishing what I think will be a revolutionary, landmark paper that uses intelligent falling to explain galactic rotation curves?
I mean, it's a unifying explanation that works in astronomy and biology? What could possibly be more parsimonious than that?
Posted by: Escuerd | January 30, 2008 11:29 AM
Gonzalez has a bright future ahead of him. Don't kid yourselves. How many bible colleges like Liberty, Oral Roberts, Bob Jones, the ICR in Texas plus the fleet of lesser lights have a real live astronomer who believes in creationism?
Finding scientists with real degrees from real institutions who will babble on about demons, angels, and creationism is hard. You can find far more scientists in detox centers and mental hospitals.
Some fundie haven of bronze age mythology will snap him up in a heartbeat. Of course, he will never do any more research but when you believe all science is described in 2 pages of 4,000 year old mythology, who cares? A square peg in a square hole.
Posted by: raven | January 30, 2008 11:29 AM
How can you have a Doctorate in Immunopharmacology and not believe in evolution? Does she deny that the nasty bugs are evolving antibiotic resistance? Or, does she thing the Godhead is reaching down and "creating" new bugs?
Posted by: Brian | January 30, 2008 12:34 PM
Before anyone jumps me, I went to a redbrick uni and am just kidding.
Posted by: Mike the Englishman | January 30, 2008 12:35 PM
Gonzales seems to be implying that tenure is a matter of time serving. This paper shows
http://www.psu.edu/president/pia/planning_research/reports/AIR_Tenure_Flow_Paper_06.pdf that tenure achievement is around 50%. So his chances were never that good.
But I agree he will be elevated to the status of ID expert with many papers published in the 'Peer reviewed, cutting edge' Answers Research Journal.
Let's face it, who would ever have even heard of a third rate, minor college professor like Behe, if he were not an 'expert' in irreducible complexity.
Posted by: Quidam | January 30, 2008 1:04 PM
"How can you have a Doctorate in Immunopharmacology and not believe in evolution? Does she deny that the nasty bugs are evolving antibiotic resistance? Or, does she thing the Godhead is reaching down and "creating" new bugs?"
The same old "micro/macroevolution" bullshit, I assume.
Posted by: Chaosium | January 30, 2008 1:11 PM
What research? Does he consider writing a popular book research like the other ID folk?
Posted by: Benjamin L. Harville | January 30, 2008 2:03 PM
Have contempt for the whining, sympathy and pity for the inability to think. But have absolute contempt and disparagement for the type of personality that actively chooses to mislead others, among which are numbered many of those who most need sympathy and pity.
Posted by: mothra | January 30, 2008 2:27 PM
"The same old "micro/macroevolution" bullshit, I assume."
How does miroevolution + time not = macroevolution
Posted by: The Backpacker | January 30, 2008 2:41 PM
Behe, for all his testimony during Dover, is simply a marketing ploy by Lehigh to bring in the Catholic/home skooled/charterskool student that might go elsewhere.
Posted by: Mold | January 30, 2008 3:14 PM
"Now, if he really wants to move on into a new position, one thing he has to realize is that he has to stop doing the same old stupid things that cost him his first one"
Actually PZ, as you pointed out he doesn't have to do anything like that. He just needs to take his same old stupid things to a University of Stupid Things, like Liberty. Isn't that why such places exist, as a Stupid Sanctuary?
Posted by: Alexandra | January 30, 2008 4:37 PM
Easy: if you're a cdesign proponentsist, it doesn't. QED.
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | January 30, 2008 6:47 PM
What research? Does he consider writing a popular book research like the other ID folk?
Since he put his book Privileged Planet on his list of publications to be considered for tenure, the answer is yes.
Posted by: Nullifidian | January 30, 2008 7:46 PM
Posted by: John Scanlon, FCD | January 30, 2008 8:04 PM
I'd like to see that.
(I won't hold my breath.)
Posted by: khan | January 30, 2008 9:18 PM
Alas, Gonzalez has screwed himself out of any future job by simply not having the qualifications from the previous job.
Publications: nil
Students: nil
Grants:nil
Now, the DI and Gonzalez can squabble about publications, students and grants, but the facts are what they are, and any hiring body will be able to sift wheat from chaff.
Sorry for Gonzalez but his career is chaff so far.
Posted by: Doc Bill | January 30, 2008 10:13 PM
You think the folks at Liberty or Bob Jones will actually care about those "qualifications"?
Posted by: Tulse | January 31, 2008 9:20 AM
"I'm convinced that I was denied tenure because of my [credulous, unproductive, failed] research," he wrote in the e-mail.
Ok, but what was the research?
Asserting that we can observe the universe really well right where we are is 'research'?
Posted by: slpage | January 31, 2008 11:58 AM
What a nasty bunch of sickos. You call youselves scientists? B.S. Linko
Posted by: Linko | January 31, 2008 5:33 PM