…and this is a 
Our Serious News Media: Newsweek
Category: Media
Posted on: July 2, 2008 11:56 AM, by PZ Myers
Yikes. As everyone seems to have noticed, their cover story this week is Lincoln vs. Darwin, an absurd premise driven by the coincidence of their common birthday, which stoops to quoting their horoscope at us.
As soon as you do start comparing this odd couple, you discover there is more to this birthday coincidence than the same astrological chart (as Aquarians, they should both be stubborn, visionary, tolerant, free-spirited, rebellious, genial but remote and detached--hmmm, so far so good).
And of course, this being our brain-dead media, it can't actually discuss them as independent people who made their own unique contributions to the world, it has to turn it into a horse race and ask, "Who was more important?" (I won't give the answer away, but here's a hint: which one was American?) It's a glib and superficial bit of tripe.
The only good part is that it does define what a scientist is. This will be handy when people ask what I do for a living.
And Darwin, at least at the outset, was hardly even a scientist in the sense that we understand the term--a highly trained specialist whose professional vocabulary is so arcane that he or she can talk only to other scientists.
You can read more about this major media event at the Sandwalk and RichardDawkins.net. Sad to say, I don't seem to share a birthday with any major historical figures, precluding any hypothetical rivalries. Although I was born on the same day as a major earthquake in the Aleutian Islands, if that means anything.
Comments
Hah. I share a birthday with Chuck Norris. And Sharon Stone. So much for astrology...
Posted by: Milo Johnson | July 2, 2008 12:01 PM
It's good to see NewsWeek featuring two godless* types on their cover.
(*Although Lincoln converted to Christianity shortly after his death.)
Posted by: quork | July 2, 2008 12:02 PM
BOOOOO newsweek... for the second time in a month (they recently published an article about psychics) they have shown themselves to have gleefully tossed off the shackles of a "news publication" and become a pandering, fluff producing, lowest common denominator targeted publication of codswallop.
BOOOOOO...
Posted by: Celtic_Evolution | July 2, 2008 12:04 PM
March 9, 1957
Pity, one day later and you'd be sharing a birthday with a very religious middle eastern 'celebrity'.
He's even more famous than you, too!
Posted by: Sigmund | July 2, 2008 12:04 PM
Eeeek! Signs and portents!
*runs away giggling*
Posted by: Lynnai | July 2, 2008 12:05 PM
It's obvious that they are missing the most important aspect of this comparison.
IT'S A BEARD OFF!!!!!!11
Ken Ham could learn a lot from these two and their beards.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 2, 2008 12:06 PM
I share a birthday with Susan B. Anthony -- the twit!
Posted by: PatrickHenry | July 2, 2008 12:06 PM
(*Although Lincoln converted to Christianity shortly after his death.)
There are no atheists in six-foot holes.
Posted by: SC | July 2, 2008 12:07 PM
I hope they do Newton vs. Gandhi next.
Was Newsweek ever serious or relevant? This is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. Am I too young to remember?
Posted by: joeschmo | July 2, 2008 12:08 PM
They were both abolitionists, anyhow.
Other than that, well, what an absurd comparison. Let's compare penguins and platypuses next, and decide which is really the best bird (since platypuses have those bills, and share some genes with birds (we do too, but no one notes that fact)).
At least they look like they're portraying Darwin quite favorably, as a free thinker and a scientist who can communicate well. Part of the latter is the obvious fact that at the start of a science like evolution there are few specialized terms--little jargon. There's still a good point to be made regarding the accessibility and common sense presentation of Darwin's work. Someone without religious blinders can understand much of the best evidence for evolution just by reading Origin.
The fact, however, is that although Lincoln did much good and should be remembered for a long time, it is Darwin who will be remembered for much longer. Lincoln's contributions were important, but are limited in time and place. Darwin's contributions are, like Shakespeare's, for the ages.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | July 2, 2008 12:10 PM
You should try my birthday: January 30.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_30
The day Ghandi was assasinated, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Bloody Sunday in Ireland, the deadliest marine disaster in history, the Beatles' last concert, Charles I was beheaded.
Man...I must be the antichrist or something :)
Oh right..and it's the same birthday as Dick Cheney. I'm DEFINITELY the antichrist then!
Posted by: katie | July 2, 2008 12:10 PM
I read this article last night and I assumed the author would not declare a winner, but give both men due credit for their accomplishments. However, as Colbert would say.."Go USA! USA! USA! Suck it, Britain! Woooooo!"
Of course, I really believe it was silly of them to turn it into a "horcerace".
Posted by: reggie | July 2, 2008 12:10 PM
Newton was born on Dec. 25th. I want to see a Newton vs. baby Jebus Newsweek story.
Posted by: joeschmo | July 2, 2008 12:14 PM
I should at this point plug the women scientists' birthday calendar!
Google Calendar and iCal
Zuska's commenter Penny contributed most of the birthdays.
I share mine with Irene Joliot-Curie, which rocks.
Posted by: MissPrism | July 2, 2008 12:15 PM
How can you judge whether Darwin or Lincoln was more important? They have nothing in common! One was a politician, one was a scientist - there's completely different standards for judgement. It's apples and oranges. A better debate would be something like Darwin vs. Einstein - whose ideas were more influential? Or Lincoln vs. FDR - who was the better president? But that's probably to much to expect from Newsweek...
Posted by: Death Worm | July 2, 2008 12:16 PM
Darwin or Lincoln? Who's the best? There's only one way to decide this:
FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!
Posted by: Al | July 2, 2008 12:16 PM
I actually read the whole article. Decently factual, reasonably informative, and pleasant to read... if you're in the eight grade.
Posted by: Jim Royal | July 2, 2008 12:17 PM
Newton may have been born on Dec. 25, but it's doubtful that Jesus was.
The Newsweek thing was interesting to glance at while checking out at the supermarket. I wouldn't dream of paying for it, though.
Posted by: Rick | July 2, 2008 12:17 PM
I proudly share my birthday with Arthur C. Clarke... and Beethoven... *beams*
Posted by: Celtic_Evolution | July 2, 2008 12:18 PM
I share my birthday with Marie Curie.
Posted by: Matt Penfold | July 2, 2008 12:19 PM
This reminds me of that ancient SNL parody game-show, "Quien es mas Macho?"
Posted by: Mikey M | July 2, 2008 12:21 PM
What a terrible definition! I talked to someone who wasn't a scientist a mere two weeks ago.
Posted by: MissPrism | July 2, 2008 12:21 PM
Hm,I just looked this up,and Im sharing a birthday with Ayaan Hirsi Ali,Chris Noth and Whoopi Goldberg.Right.Well.Hm.
Astrology hey...
What an utterly stupid thing to be throwing Lincoln and Darwin together like that,and its Newsweek,not the Sydney Morning Herald LOL
Posted by: clinteas | July 2, 2008 12:21 PM
I share my birthday with a personal hero - Thomas Jefferson; April 13. As we are both Aries, we feel (or felt) that astrology is a bunch of bullshit and that the writer of this insipid article should be fired and have his pencil (quill pen) broken.
Posted by: Aegis | July 2, 2008 12:22 PM
This is an inane comparison. But really, when you think about it, what else does the American media really 'have' to do? They've already made it blatantly obvious that they are nearly incapable of presenting important information on pressing matters (hence the abundance of celebrity related dreck in the news feeds of most major publications). How else could they possibly spend their time while maintaining this dazzling standard except by trotting out historical figures for a little post hoc head-to-head because they share the same birthday? The horoscope excerpt was a nice flourish too.
Posted by: stevogvsu | July 2, 2008 12:25 PM
Just the other day, Steve Novella was saying the following:
I guess she may have been judging by the publication she knew best.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | July 2, 2008 12:26 PM
Egad! My birthday is tomarrow! I share it with Queen Sonja of Norway. :)
Oh great idea Al - lets have a FOOOD FIGHT!!!!!!!!!
Raw egg straight at Matt Penfold, for continuing to be a sulking sissy for the 2nd day.
*SPLAT*
Posted by: Patricia | July 2, 2008 12:26 PM
Coming up next, Springfield's fattest man meets Springfield's oldest man!
Opposites attract?
Posted by: minimalist | July 2, 2008 12:26 PM
Trying to post the link on "Senate examines TV evangelists"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7484662.stm
I hope it works this time.
Posted by: liz | July 2, 2008 12:27 PM
PZ, but you share a birthday with Yuri Gagarin, Bobby Fischer, Irene Papas, Raul Julia, Amerigo Vespucci, Modest Mussorgsky, and many others.
Posted by: Nullifidian | July 2, 2008 12:28 PM
My birthday is December 25th. That's right, same day as Anwar Sadat and Dido!
Posted by: Andrew | July 2, 2008 12:28 PM
Admit it, though: who wouldn't like to see these two square off on Celebrity Death Match?
Katie @11,
The day Ghandi was assasinated, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Bloody Sunday in Ireland, the deadliest marine disaster in history, the Beatles' last concert, Charles I was beheaded [Emph. added]
So why are you complaining? It's not like nothing good ever happened on your birthday!
Posted by: Mrs Tilton | July 2, 2008 12:32 PM
Yeah?? Well I get to share a birthday with Marlon Brando, Eddie Murphy, Helmut Kohl, and none other than Sebastian Bach.
Ahhh, Skid Row and the good ole days of Hair Metal!!
Oh, and Jane Goodall too. That one is kinda cool.
Posted by: rjb | July 2, 2008 12:33 PM
Next week on Newsweek,
Cap'n Crunch vs. Captain Kirk
As soon as you do start comparing this odd couple, you discover there is more just than the ranking coincidence (impulsive, rebellious, both did green alien women, and both taste deliciously sweet)
As for who was more important I will refer to a great man, whose name I stole for my pseudonym, said of Maxwell's equations,
The American Civil War will pale into provincial insignificance in comparison with this important scientific event
I think the very same can be said of the theory of natural selection.
Posted by: Feynmaniac | July 2, 2008 12:36 PM
I share mine with Mick Jagger. So I automatically out-birthday-cool all of you.
:p
Posted by: Rev. BigDUmbChimp | July 2, 2008 12:37 PM
I share the same birthday as Miles Davis and Beverly Sills. I consider this to be just as significant as Darwin and Lincoln being born on the same day.
This Darwin vs Lincoln debate is an old fundy debate. Lincoln, being the fine "christian" freed the american slave. Darwin, being the "anti-christ" brought racism and knocked the big sky daddy from the center of existence.
Look up the letters to the editor section of the Chicago Sun-Times from April 15, 2002 as an example of this kind of inanity.
Posted by: Janine, Disingenuous Jackass | July 2, 2008 12:38 PM
With that, I would hope they change the name to Newsweak.
Posted by: Alex | July 2, 2008 12:39 PM
Chimpy, you are wrong. I have Miles Davis.
'raspberry'
Posted by: Janine, Disingenuous Jackass | July 2, 2008 12:39 PM
Sulking sissy ? Moi ?
Did I miss something ? I may have done. I dropped a door on my foot yesterday and self-medicated with vodka and ibubrufen.
Posted by: Matt Penfold | July 2, 2008 12:40 PM
With that, I would hope they change the name to Newsweak.
Posted by: Alex
Wrong. Make it Newsmax.
Posted by: Janine, Disingenuous Jackass | July 2, 2008 12:41 PM
Jimi Hendrix shares his brthday with me.
Posted by: SC | July 2, 2008 12:41 PM
Hahaha - the jokes some of you guys tell... this thread DELIVERS!!!
Posted by: Vic | July 2, 2008 12:42 PM
damn it
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 2, 2008 12:43 PM
If I may be so bold, I do like the cover.
Posted by: BlueIndependent | July 2, 2008 12:43 PM
@ Death Worm, #15
That article has already been written. It's actually quite nice.
Posted by: Zeekster | July 2, 2008 12:46 PM
I suppose Darwin and Lincoln do have one thing in common in terms of religion. Darwin removed God from Biology. Lincoln removed mention of God from the Constitution - it being present in the constitution of the Confederation.
Isn't it strange that most of the effort to 'reinstate' God seems to originate from southern States that were in the Confederation during the civil war.
Posted by: Sigmund | July 2, 2008 12:46 PM
I share a Birthday with Walt Disney. And aside form him founding a multi-billion dollar entertainment company and being a bit of an ass, we are pretty much twins.
Posted by: giffy | July 2, 2008 12:49 PM
You can really tell that the people who wrote and edited this article were English majors who barely passed their intro science courses. You'd expect such a hostile definition of scientist from a fundie source, but to see it in Newsweek *shakes fist*.
Posted by: Julian | July 2, 2008 12:50 PM
Why do some people think that all characteristics of a person can fit on a one-dimensional scale? Do their opinions of their friends consist merely of a percentage score?
Posted by: theinquisitor | July 2, 2008 12:52 PM
An earthquake in the Aleutians on the day of your birth, huh? Clearly, Poseidon was pleased! (Oh maybe C'thulhu, it was the Pacific afterall...)
Posted by: Julian | July 2, 2008 12:54 PM
What's that you say, PZ? I can't understand a single word of it, not being a scientist and all.
Posted by: beagledad | July 2, 2008 12:56 PM
I'm lucky enough to share the same birthday as Angelina Jolie, as well as large pouty goldfish lips.
Posted by: The Flying Trilobite | July 2, 2008 12:59 PM
You are so in the doo-do Matt. No spanking for you and your bar tab has been cut to 12 ducats, etc... go back over to the Molly thread to view the abuse heaped on you. The leg humping dogs were just about to be loosed in your direction. Good thing you showed up. Sulk over?
Posted by: Patricia | July 2, 2008 1:00 PM
It's not the first time I see someone saying Darwin wasn't a real scientist. I remember a web TV programme where the invited expert on evolution (who happened to be a creationist) made this point too. He said something like: "Actually, Darwin wasn't a real scientist, but a naturalist..." As far as I understand, it's right to call Darwin was naturalist, but not to use the word to trivialize Darwin's method of the quality of his work. Wasn't 'naturalist' just the name given to those who studied nature in the past, before the science got so complicated that there was a need for more titles?
Posted by: Gustaf | July 2, 2008 1:01 PM
According to the BBC, I'm exactly as old as the Internet! Of course, a lot of people who were born in the late 60's are exactly the age of the Internet according to some measure.
Posted by: Kevin Anthoney | July 2, 2008 1:02 PM
I share my birthday with the both of them (and my eldest nephew), I so rule the school!* :)
As I grew up in Illinois, the "Land of Lincoln" I got my birthday off from school from kindergarten through High School, further evidence of ruling!
Posted by: BMcP | July 2, 2008 1:05 PM
I revere Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln as great men, but their greatness is in different circumstances. Both men have left us a legacy of historical importance, the great Darwin for his work on evolution, and the great Lincoln for his fortitude in keeping our great country united during it's most trying times. I want both men with me if I had the choice; greatness is always better when one compliments the other. And Lincoln is great in my estimation because, though he may have alluded to religious expressions, we know that he was really not religious as we interpret the case. If I had to list people whom I truly admire and wish to communicate with on many matters, then these two men are among the ten.
Posted by: Holbach | July 2, 2008 1:06 PM
Patricia,
I only ever sulk for five minutes, me!
I must protest at the cutting of the bar tab: I can drink that much in a hour! No complaints about the spanking though :)
Posted by: Matt Penfold | July 2, 2008 1:10 PM
Here's a quote from Lincoln
"While I was at the hotel today, an elderly gentleman called upon me to know whether I was really in favor of producing a perfect equality between the negroes and white people. [Great Laughter.] While I had not proposed to myself on this occasion to say much on that subject, yet as the question was asked me I thought I would occupy perhaps five minutes in saying something in regard to it. I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, [applause]-that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied every thing. I do not understand that because I do not want a negro woman for a slave I must necessarily want her for a wife."
On a Sept 15, 1958 Presidential Debate.
Here's a bit of Darwin's View from Descent of Man.
"...yet I was incessantly struck, whilst living with the Feugians on board the "Beagle," with the many little traits of character, shewing how similar their minds were to ours; and so it was with a full-blooded negro with whom I happened once to be intimate.
He who will read Mr. Tylor's and Sir J. Lubbock's interesting works can hardly fail to be deeply impressed with the close similarity between the men of all races in tastes, dispositions and habits. This is shown by the pleasure which they all take in dancing, rude music, acting, painting, tattoing, and otherwise decorating themselves; in their mutual comprehension of gesture-language, by the same expression in their features, and by the same inarticulate cries, when excited by the same emotions. This similarity, or rather identity, is striking, when contrasted with the different expressions and cries made by distinct species of monkeys. There is good evidence that the art of shooting with bows and arrows has not been handed down from any common progenitor of mankind, yet as Westropp and Nilsson have remarked, the stone arrow-heads, brought from the most distant parts of the world, and manufactured at the most remote periods, are almost identical; and this fact can only be accounted for by the various races having similar inventive or mental powers. The same observation has been made by archeologists with respect to certain widely-prevalent ornaments, such as zig-zags, &c.; and with respect to various simple beliefs and customs, such as the burying of the dead under megalithic structures. I remember observing in South America, that there, as in so many other parts of the world, men have generally chosen the summits of lofty hills, to throw up piles of stones, either as a record of some remarkable event, or for burying their dead.
Now when naturalists observe a close agreement in numerous small details of habits, tastes, and dispositions between two or more domestic races, or between nearly-allied natural forms, they use this fact as an argument that they are descended from a common progenitor who was thus endowed; and consequently that all should be classed under the same species. The same argument may be applied with much force to the races of man.
As it is improbable that the numerous and unimportant points of resemblance between the several races of man in bodily structure and mental faculties (I do not here refer to similar customs) should all have been independently acquired, they must have been inherited from progenitors who had these same characters."
Sure, one could argue that Darwin also had the belief in ethnic superiority, as all intellectuals did in his time, but he uses his experience and observations to point out that perhaps those beliefs are overstated. He may not have interracial marriage in mind when he speaks of common origins, but that was the Zeitgeist of the time. Yet, I hate to make another comparison to this stupid newscreap article, but who really has the moral superiority here? Definitely not Lincoln.
Posted by: Helioprogenus | July 2, 2008 1:12 PM
Patricia: No spanking, just twirling.
Posted by: Holbach | July 2, 2008 1:12 PM
PZ,
I'm not a scientist, so your post was all gibberish to me.
However, I read the Newsweek article. Among the many flaws of contemporary journalism that it exhibited was a too-strong focus on personalities. But that's "just a theory" of mine.
Posted by: Tosser | July 2, 2008 1:15 PM
I share a birthday (Feb. 17th) with Michael Jordan, Paris Hilton, Michael Bay (of Armageddon fame), and Lou Diamond Phillips. Geronimo apparently died on my birthday, as did the Roman Emperor Jovian. Also, the following interesting things have happened on my birthday:
-In 1753, Feb. 17th was followed by March 1st when Sweden switch from the Jovian to Gregorian calendar (Jovian stuff is popular on Feb 17)
-In 1864, The H. L. Hunley became the first submarine to engage and sink a warship.
-In 1933, The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States. Yay!
-Also 1933, and I'm sure completely unrelated... Newsweek is published for the first time!
Posted by: MarshallDog | July 2, 2008 1:16 PM
I share Sept. 21 with H. G. Wells, Gustav Holst, of "The Planets" fame, and 3 Nobel prize winners. :D
If this had any kind of significance whatsoever, I guess I would be a good writer/scientist AND a creative writer. My constant thesis procrastination might beg to differ...
Posted by: Ale | July 2, 2008 1:16 PM
That is precisely what a news publication is.
Posted by: tsg | July 2, 2008 1:16 PM
Oh all right, you get a reprieve. But don't ask me to go all yellow belly christian & forgive you.
No worries Holbach, the Sluts deal out the spankings. ;)
I gotta twirl off & buy more food for the hounds.
Posted by: Patricia | July 2, 2008 1:19 PM
I share birthdays with Richard Dawkins.
We're both atheists.
We both don't believe in astrology or horoscopes.
He wrote a book called "The God Delusion". I READ a book called "The God Delusion".
Coincidences? I DON'T THINK SOOOO....
Posted by: Eduardo Vila | July 2, 2008 1:28 PM
It's the comments section of the newsweek site that is really the most horrifying. The level of abject ignorance is really just too much for me sometimes. And ignorance that is applauded at that.
American is done.
Posted by: Jacques | July 2, 2008 1:29 PM
"On their birth date, Thomas Jefferson had three weeks left in his second term as president."
Dude. They were old.
Posted by: astroande | July 2, 2008 1:34 PM
Oh sweet, my birthday is the day that Einsten's paper introducing "E=mc^2" was published. Kick ass.
It's also the one day that Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the U.S. capital. Huh.
Posted by: astroande | July 2, 2008 1:38 PM
I quit reading Newsweak fifteen years ago. I have not regretted that decision for even a single moment.
Posted by: spencer | July 2, 2008 1:40 PM
Newton was born the year Galileo died. Maybe they'll suggest Newton was Galileo's reincarnation. Or something.
Posted by: PeteKillin | July 2, 2008 1:42 PM
Well I have the same birthday as Eli Whitney (inventor of the Cotton Gin) and Jim Morrison (a.k.a. The Lizard King). Obviously, those two have a great deal in common with each other, and me ...
Posted by: Mark B | July 2, 2008 1:49 PM
so what's a journalist then, someone who toys with words so much they can be a dick without even trying?
Posted by: kathleenvh | July 2, 2008 1:52 PM
I resent that. I can totally talk to people outside my field. Although, I may not count, since I haven't completed my degree yet. One day I will be so specialized that I can only talk to myself!
Posted by: JoeBlu | July 2, 2008 1:54 PM
If you look at the comments on the Newsweek site you'll see people trashing NW because of how "evil" Darwin was. One bright chap actually raised the 2nd law of thermo dynamics...ugh.
Posted by: Chris Rosendin | July 2, 2008 1:54 PM
Eep! I share a birthday with Pat Buchanan! So does that balance out with k.d. lang? ;-)
||laughs||
CVA
Posted by: CitizenVA | July 2, 2008 1:57 PM
PZ: You share a birthday with my brother.
Now, I'm not going to read this thing but I will note that it hardly mentions anything related to creationism. So, having Darwin mentioned in the main media in a story that was not derived form a DI press release is good.
Posted by: Greg Laden | July 2, 2008 1:57 PM
You also share the same birthday as Johannes, Prince of Waldburg in Wolfegg and Waldsee.
Posted by: Daniel R | July 2, 2008 1:57 PM
Oh sweet! I was born the day Paul Castellano was shot by John Gotti. I always knew I was a born mafioso.
Posted by: JoeBlu | July 2, 2008 1:58 PM
Ben Stein has already had a conversation with Darwin's statue. (Remember that PR photo?) Let him talk to Lincoln's statue and tell us what he got out of that. Maybe he could make another fine documentary: "Seceded: How Big North suppresses southern states and how Lincolnism actually leads to slavery (not to mention Naziism)"
Posted by: oriole | July 2, 2008 1:59 PM
On my birthday, the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum.
Posted by: mona | July 2, 2008 1:59 PM
#11: You're not the Antichrist unless Penis Cheney says that he was born on YOUR birthday.
Posted by: Hap | July 2, 2008 2:05 PM
Although Darwin wasn't exactly a short man (6 feet or so), he's got to be standing on a stool in that photograph!
:)
Posted by: s1mplex | July 2, 2008 2:06 PM
All I get is some Icelandic football player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ei%C3%B0ur_Gu%C3%B0johnsen
Posted by: Brian K. | July 2, 2008 2:07 PM
Oh well, it could have been more absurd and inane. At least they didn't have a swimsuit competition.
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | July 2, 2008 2:09 PM
D'oh. And I thought I'd heard the dumbest thing of the month already...
I gotta say though, that definition of "scientist" works very well for absolutely anything. Check it out:
"A Latin speaker is someone whose vocabulary is so arcane that he or she can talk only to other
scientistspeople who speak Latin."Don't even get me started on German. We take words and just stick them together and make new perfectly good words! And you can only speak it to Germans! Or, well, people who bothered to learn German...
... in the same way in which you can learn scientific vocabulary. Where's the problem?
Posted by: catta | July 2, 2008 2:09 PM
Seriously, what does it take exactly to be a journalist these days? Is there any possible way to not qualify for this job?
Posted by: onclepsycho | July 2, 2008 2:14 PM
I share a birthday with George Orwell. Cue the Twilight Zone music.
Posted by: Neural Transmissions | July 2, 2008 2:16 PM
I think I win the crappy birthday contest. I share mine (a week from today!) with: Fred Savage, Courtney Love, O.J. Simpson, and the worst train wreck in U.S. history (July 9, 1918).
Posted by: ryan | July 2, 2008 2:16 PM
#59:
You need to take that fragment in the context of the time and place. (A Senate campaign speech, against a spectacularly race-baiting Democrat, delivered in one of the most Southern-leaning parts of a state that officially barred blacks from entering.)
Sure, Lincoln thought blacks were probably inferior to whites. He was a man of his time and place. (Not everyone can transcend it, especially not politicians who need to be elected.) He also broke the chains of slavery that bound them and put rifles in their hands so they could shoot their former masters. A saint? No, but the good surely outweighs the bad.
Posted by: Mike Davis | July 2, 2008 2:17 PM
I've got the dubious honour of sharing my birthday with Ben Stein...
Posted by: Mari | July 2, 2008 2:18 PM
I'm going to make a slight defense of the comparison, even though I agreed that it is "absurd". It is, but seriously, it's not as bad as it's being portrayed by many.
The fact is that two people from the same period are being discussed in a manner that might grab the attention of many readers. Sure, their work doesn't have a lot to do with each other, yet for people who don't know a lot about history it might be a way of putting them both into context, which is often something missed in discussions of such figures. You "compare" the two not because they're much alike, but because they're really quite different--yet with certain connections existing between the two, due to their times and the issues of their times.
That they pick Lincoln over Darwin, when the two aren't comparable to any great degree, is their biggest mistake. Simply picking two people sharing a time period to illuminate their times and their places within the time is not a wholly unreasonable scheme.
I'm not saying it's a successful treatment, understand. I'm just stating that it's not necessarily a bad idea from start to finish. They're trying to take a somewhat different tack than most have already encountered, and it might work out. They do not have to stick to a history-book formula, they have to try to pique the interest of readers. Conceivably they have managed to do so, if the response on the blogosphere is any indication.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | July 2, 2008 2:24 PM
On my birthday: Sonja Henie, Betty Ford, and Robin Wright Penn.
Weirdly, I think I'm not that far from being the most famous man born on my birthday. Just have to beat out Schecky Green, Kofi Annan, and Gary Carter.
Making up for an unimpressive cast of characters: it's the traditional date of Buddha's birthday in some countries, and it's the day Hank Aaron hit his 715th.
Oh, and the Pope's funeral meant Charles and Camilla didn't get married on my birthday but the day after.
Posted by: chancelikely | July 2, 2008 2:31 PM
I wanna ride on the bandwagon!!
Ahem. Many historic events have occured on my date of birth (sept. 13). 1906 - First fixed-wing aircraft flight in Europe. 1857 - Milton S. Hershey, American confectioner was birthed.
I have flown on said sort of aircraft and I have probably eaten chocolate while doing so, though I can't swear it was a Hershey.
Also, I do occasionally get a friday the 13th B-day party. And I abhor astrology stuff.
Posted by: Serena | July 2, 2008 2:31 PM
"Who was more important?"
This question is so fucking stupid, I can't believe it's so fucking stupid.
That's it. I'll never buy Newsweek anymore.
Posted by: negentropyeater | July 2, 2008 2:34 PM
I share a birthday with David Lee Roth and my sister shares a birthday with Sammy Hagar.
Posted by: Greg R. | July 2, 2008 2:39 PM