…and this is a 
Uh-oh. Seed Media has received some demands from Robert Lanza, MD, Scientist, Theoretician, Genius, Renegade Thinker. He wants us to take down a few posts by Orac and myself. I guess he doesn't like being compared to Grandpa Simpson, or seeing disagreement with his ideas about the afterlife, or being exposed as a quantum woo-meister.
Gosh, what will I do?
Seed has a very clearcut policy on our posts, and there is going to be no attempt to censor any of them. Gee. So I'm not going to edit them.
I'd hate to think that anyone might link to this post, or to these presumably objectional posts #1, #2, or #3. That might increase the likelihood that Google will return those links in searches for Robert Lanza. Whatever you do, don't link to any of these posts about Robert Lanza on Scienceblogs!
Comments
Posted by: oihorse
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August 4, 2010 5:11 PM
Engage Streisand effect!
They never learn.
Posted by: AdamK
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August 4, 2010 5:14 PM
I wonder if he's related to Mario Lanza the singer.
Because that's about as close as he's ever gonna get to interesting.
Posted by: stan
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August 4, 2010 5:16 PM
That's just mean. You're a big bully.
Posted by: Travis
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August 4, 2010 5:18 PM
I look forward to Orac posting insolent words about this. And I agree with oihorse. They really never learn that by trying to get things removed they make themselves look even more silly and pathetic, and get laughed at even more.
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk
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August 4, 2010 5:21 PM
I demand that you not link to this article either: Nice debunking of biocentrism
Although the hard work for that one was done elsewhere. I'll bet Nirmukta received some demands as well.
I also demand that you inform your readers that black is white, and night is day.
Posted by: bionode
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August 4, 2010 5:22 PM
LEAVE ROBERT ALONE!! :(
Posted by: Bride of Shrek OM
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August 4, 2010 5:22 PM
PZ, he's making pretty solid demands there.
If you don't comply he might, um, dunno..unfriend you on Face Book or demand a Leica in compensation or something.
Assclam.
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk
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August 4, 2010 5:23 PM
Were those demands from Lanza himself, or from his lawyer? Any chance you could post the text of the demands? I have 1.5 hours to kill.Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 4, 2010 5:26 PM
Uh oh. Watch out, PZ - you could be receiving a demand for an expensive camera at any time! Robert Lanza, what a maroon.
Posted by: Rey Fox, Bird Caller Guy
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August 4, 2010 5:27 PM
Or he'll try to sue you like Stu Pivar.
Posted by: Whore of All the Earth
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August 4, 2010 5:28 PM
If you can't handle people disagreeing with you, don't make your views public.
Posted by: sqlrob
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August 4, 2010 5:31 PM
You know PZ, I think it is really appropriate to edit those other posts because of his request.
Add an update pointing to this article.
Posted by: lose_the_woo
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August 4, 2010 5:32 PM
Wait. Now let me get this clear: You are asking us to NOT link to this post, this post, or this post? Oh crap, I think I forgot about this post. Darn it, now I've lost track. Never mind.
Posted by: jre
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August 4, 2010 5:46 PM
The HuffPo has attracted even more attention than usual recently for its mad-dog comment moderation -- possibly because that moderation has increased in rabidity.
I heard Arianna Huffington interviewed just a few days ago on Marketplace regarding HuffPo's software-mediated and keyword-driven comment moderation. She thought it was a lovely thing, keeping the boards swept clean of incivility and all that. But maybe the fact that bots do the moderating is partly to blame for HuffPo's authoritarian atmosphere. A human moderator might see the name "Robert Lanza" and the term "wackaloon" in the same comment and pause before hitting delete, thinking "hey, this guy really is a wackaloon."
Posted by: Archaeopteryx
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August 4, 2010 5:50 PM
I clicked on one of the links. It may be the funniest thing I've read in weeks. Thanks!
Posted by: Sastra
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August 4, 2010 5:52 PM
Never complain to authorities about being called a "crackpot." Especially, never do it in high dudgeon. And, to add to this, never complain to authorities about being called a crackpot by demanding in outraged tones that all offensive posts be removed, at once, while throwing out all your high qualifications and reasons why you should be treated with respect. It is also wise to refrain from making references to Galileo, Einstein, or the Jews under the Third Reich, somewhere in the complaint.
I'm not saying that Robert Lanza, MD, Scientist, Theoretician, Genius, and Renegade Thinker has done any of this, mind you. It's just good general advice, that might apply to anyone.
Posted by: Schenck
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August 4, 2010 5:54 PM
I don't know how much it helps, but I tweeted about this and
this andthis. Using "#BobLanzaMD" as a hashtag
(because I just like the sound of it, like he's Quincy MD, solving crimes through biocentrism "There's no witness, so there's no crime")
Posted by: Orac
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August 4, 2010 5:58 PM
How come I only find out about these "demands" from one of the targets of my "insolence" after I notice a bunch of traffic coming my way from Pharyngula and go over to find out where I was mentioned? Seed Overlords, I want to see the text of the complaint from Lanza, dammit! Isn't this the sort of bad communication from the Overlords that contributed to the meltdown after Pepsigate in the first place?
Of course, there's only one thing to do:
Another post about Lanza. Of course.
Posted by: Acronym Jim
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August 4, 2010 5:58 PM
I'm sure he threatened to give you and Seed Media a good
floggingflouncing if demands aren't met.Or maybe he'll just banish both of you from his self-created universe.
Posted by: AMW
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August 4, 2010 6:09 PM
I laughed with joy to read this.
Welcome, "Dr." Lanza, to the world of free speech and readers who can recognize and call out hokum. Your purplish prose, well, that's an offense of another sort.
Now don't go giving me the evil eye.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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August 4, 2010 6:13 PM
I see Orac has the proper spirit. Time to raise some spirits for the California decision...hic...hic...hic...
Posted by: Aratina Cage
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August 4, 2010 6:24 PM
Lanza is one of the main reasons I decided to quit reading Huffington Post. Robert Lanza's quantum ideas are shit. His articles at Huffington Post are shit. He is full of shit.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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August 4, 2010 6:24 PM
Is Dr. Scientist, Theoretician, Genius, and Renegade Thinker feeling all butt hurt? Or is only because he's got sand up his rectum?
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk
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August 4, 2010 6:26 PM
With the recent PepsiGate Exodus, perhaps there might be room on ScienceBlogs for another blogger such as Lanza.
Posted by: blf
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August 4, 2010 6:46 PM
A pile of Plexiglas filled with ancient smoking electronics and lots and lots of duck tape whinges How come I only find out about these "demands" from one of the targets of my "insolence" after I notice a bunch of traffic coming my way from Pharyngula and go over to find out where I was mentioned?
You must have irritated your Big Pharma Reptilian Overloads again. Keep it up and, eventually, instead of getting traffic via poopyhead, you won't get any traffic and puppies will be shot in the streets.
Posted by: Noddin
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August 4, 2010 6:50 PM
Please. We need to have restraint in this event.
I am an atheist. But, also a believer. OK? I have read Doctor Lanza's material and I can only say this. That you are not showing respect. This man has words to share. No violence, only new thoughts. He is an old man. He says a mixture.
So. Yes, you will find some safety in numbers on a tough blog. However. Can you come face to face, one man to man. And take on a new thought? Try it. You might change a view.
It is true. Doctor Lanza has been one crazy idiot in some ways. Is that it? No. He has a wise mind and a sense to look around corners for a next angle. It takes idiots to forget common methods. Doctor Lanza might step in thick shit at times. Of course, we all do it. But then we might buy a better shoes.
OK. You are probably thinking it. I am eaten by Doctor Lanza's idiot comments. No, that's not right. Here is what happens; you ignored the points. You are smart in many ways, but Doctor Lanza is also smart. See that for what it is.
I need to take a break from your blog. I will come back to wrestle. If you think I have opened your mind, leave me a comment. I will appreciate that. On the other hand, I will still read your words. I am not going to read them all.
There are different views in here. I like your posts!
Posted by: Syzygy
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August 4, 2010 6:52 PM
Eerily (but perhaps predictably), all of Lanza's article titles sound like Onion parodies.
I don't know whether to punch him in the face or to golfclap and say, "How very drole, old chap! Bravo!"
The comments alone are as good as a death sentence to his credibility:
Whoa, okay. Show's over. Pack up your crazy and keep a-movin'.
Posted by: Aratina Cage
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August 4, 2010 6:53 PM
Dog, you must be joking, right? Please tell me you are joking.
Posted by: Syzygy
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August 4, 2010 7:00 PM
#32
Aha! My internet research indicates that this is the sort of situation in which one could appropriately say, "lolwut".
Dog, I'm having trouble remembering the last time a "crazy idiot" contributed positively to society. I'm also having trouble conjuring up respect for anyone, "scientist" or otherwise, whose work is so fragile that he feels any negative commentary about it on the internet poses significant threat. Demands of censorship don't usually come from the folks with the good ideas.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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August 4, 2010 7:01 PM
I took it as a joke. But then, what do I know?Posted by: Syzygy
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August 4, 2010 7:02 PM
Don't know how that happened. Meant #26 (clearly).
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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August 4, 2010 7:04 PM
Forgot to continue with the proper spirit...hic...hic...hic...
Posted by: Dania
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August 4, 2010 7:05 PM
I don't get Dog. I honestly don't. Dog's comments never make any sense to me.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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August 4, 2010 7:11 PM
In honor of Wiley E. Coyote, Supergenius aka Dr. Robert Lanza: One...Two...Two and ninety-four ninety-fifths.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 4, 2010 7:13 PM
Dog @ 26:
Dog, I know you're new to commenting here. (I'm the one who said hello to you in the endless thread yesterday.)
If you're here to argue in favour of stone crackpots like Lanza, it's not going to go unnoticed, to say the least. If you want to present some of his ideas as sound, you're going to need a lot more than vague hand-wavings about tone.
One thing you need to know about Pharyngula: if you have an argument, argue it. Argue soundly and if asked to present evidence, put some damn evidence on the table. Substance is what is valued here. Not tone, not style. If you want to focus on the tone of people here, you're going to get nowhere fast and end up leaving assprints on the door.
So, we're a tough blog, eh? I suppose so. We're Gnus. Maybe even Smoking Gnus*. Welcome to the shark tank.
*Going Postal reference.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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August 4, 2010 7:28 PM
Dog #26
It's up to you and him to give us reason to show him respect.
No one, not even PZ or Orac, are stopping him from sharing his words.
Age doesn't equate to wisdom. Fred Phelps is 80.
Is English your first language?
Posted by: lose_the_woo
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August 4, 2010 7:31 PM
Uuuuuuuhh-huh.
Oh my.
Where do they come from and how do they manage? Sigh.
Posted by: ERV
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August 4, 2010 7:42 PM
SEED has only gotten one threat cause of me. Ever.
And this is PZ and Oracs, what, millionth, at least.
I have failed you all.
:(
Posted by: Syzygy
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August 4, 2010 7:45 PM
Is it just me, or does I need to take a break from your blog. I will come back to wrestle. have a kind of "all your base" catchiness?
"I need to take a break from this blog/job/relationship. I will come back to wrestle."
Someone make me a lolcat, I will love you forever.
Posted by: Rorschach
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August 4, 2010 7:55 PM
Just a reminder, PZ does not want you to link tothis , this ,or this Scienceblogs post at all.
Posted by: ladyh42
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August 4, 2010 7:58 PM
Re: Respect towards Lanza
I really hate it when someone calls for that, when clearly, even to my non-scientifically trained mind (seriously, I went to art college) said person is just pulling shit out of their ass and calling it manah from heaven. No, I will not eat it!
Posted by: Epinephrine
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August 4, 2010 8:03 PM
Wow, did you know that if you google Robert Lanza wackaloon it lands you here? It also works for Robert Lanza crackpot, as well as Robert Lanza Streisand effect.
Weird, eh?
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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August 4, 2010 8:23 PM
Um, like wow man. Deep thoughts.
Posted by: areyoulistening
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August 4, 2010 8:44 PM
All that's missing is the call for creationism to be taught alongside evolution...
Posted by: Insightful Ape
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August 4, 2010 8:59 PM
Gosh, how am I going to break it to dearest Dog...
You know what? No, I have no respect for him. Or for you.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Posted by: jcwelch
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August 4, 2010 9:12 PM
BAAHAHAAHAAHA
Thank you dog, it's been a long time since I had a remedy for my "Jack Handy" jonze.
Posted by: Divalent
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August 4, 2010 9:24 PM
Dog @26: nice stuff.
BTW, I am my own person, so I will not link to
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_dead_are_dead.php or http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_dead_are_dead.php or http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/06/dr_lanza_and_biocentrism_time_to_get_out.php Sorry, just not my style.
Posted by: echidna
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August 4, 2010 9:39 PM
Cheap Links! Get them while they're hot!
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_dead_are_dead.php
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_dead_are_dead.php http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/06/dr_lanza_and_biocentrism_time_to_get_out.php
Posted by: --PatF in Madison
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August 4, 2010 9:45 PM
... but, but...
Robert Lanza, M.D. is considered one of the leading scientists in the world.
This has to be true. I found it on his web site.
Posted by: nejishiki
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August 4, 2010 9:55 PM
ERV:
Obviously, it's time to draw Muhammad (PBUH) on your abs.
Posted by: Kagato
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August 4, 2010 9:56 PM
Just a note to people that a bajillion links to those articles on this one page is unlikely to have much affect on Google's PageRank.
However, anyone who has their own blog, and chooses to link to them; well, that's a different story...
Posted by: idlemind
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August 4, 2010 10:00 PM
Dog: You know, of all the millions of weird hypotheses formulated by self-appointed sages such as Lanza, Chopra, et al, at least one or two are probably correct. But I'm not going to live my life based on the slender odds of any one of them being true. There is no concrete evidence that death is not final, and living ones life based on any other assumption is an irresponsible waste of the one existence we know we've got. Lanza is an old man afraid of his demise and is making up comforting stories based on metaphors and superficial and erroneous understandings of consensus science. He may have the highest IQ of any human alive and genuine wisdom in some areas, but it won't let him cheat death.
Posted by: JeffreyD
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August 4, 2010 10:20 PM
And the snark tank.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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August 4, 2010 10:23 PM
Isn't it snark week?Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 4, 2010 10:26 PM
Nerd:
At Pharyngula, every week is snark week. Sniny, sniny snark...keeps the shark teeth sharp. And sniny.
Posted by: JeffreyD
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August 4, 2010 10:27 PM
Nerd - Thanks to the non-existent deity of your choice, here in PZ's Playhouse it is always snark week. :^}
Posted by: JeffreyD
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August 4, 2010 10:29 PM
Waves at zombie wife. (smile)
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 4, 2010 10:31 PM
*Waves to zombie husband* Good to see you, my snarky dear.
Posted by: JeffreyD
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August 4, 2010 10:40 PM
Caine - Always nice to see your sniny face, dear. Trying to catch up, lots to read. Jazzed about the Prop 8 news. Been stealth vaping everywhere, by the way. :^}
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 4, 2010 10:47 PM
JeffreyD:
Same here, on both counts. :)
Posted by: Rincewind'smuse
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August 4, 2010 11:01 PM
PZ, you terrible, rude,bearded poopy headed bully....you....you!
Oh, yeah
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_dead_are_dead.php
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/06/dr_lanza_and_biocentrism_time_to_get_out.php
Posted by: Audley Z. Darkheart OM, purveyor of candy and lies
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August 4, 2010 11:20 PM
Dog:
lolwut?
Seriously, lolwut?
I have never been eaten by comments. Maybe I'm doing something wrong here. :(
Posted by: Mattir-ritated
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August 5, 2010 12:02 AM
Pretty soon it's going to be banhammer time for Dog. Seriously - hit him with the QuantumHammer, PZ.
Posted by: DLC
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August 5, 2010 1:42 AM
Sometimes the proper response is to point and laugh. The internet version of which could be Link and Laugh ?
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_dead_are_dead.php
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/06/dr_lanza_and_biocentrism_time_to_get_out.php
Posted by: monado
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August 5, 2010 1:47 AM
Send him this: "Make it less offensive."
Posted by: Bride of Shrek OM
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August 5, 2010 2:10 AM
Dog @ #26
That word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ~Inigo Montoya
Posted by: John Morales
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August 5, 2010 2:25 AM
[meta]
I'm of the opinion whoever posts using the string "Dog" does so to, ahem, deposit the link associated with that string on the net.
Spam lite, IOW.
Posted by: Alice Bluegown
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August 5, 2010 3:44 AM
Spambots say the darndest things!
Posted by: drawingbusiness
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August 5, 2010 4:49 AM
I've taken your advice, PZ, and written a post on my personal blog that definitely doesn't link to any of those posts. Honest, guv.
Posted by: Dana Hunter
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August 5, 2010 4:49 AM
This is me not linking to Robert Lanza. Not even a little bit. No, cuz I'm one of those nicey-nice people who would never ever poke at the poor woo-addled id- ah, people with unusual views on science. See? I'm totally nice, totally not snarky, and totally not linking to Robert Lanza on ScienceBlogs at all.
Yes.
Posted by: Colin
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August 5, 2010 5:15 AM
I suspect Dog has been treated by "Doctor" Lanza, and is displaying the inevitable results of that treatment.
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/hairychris444#96384
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August 5, 2010 5:59 AM
Who is this Robert Lanza clart?
Posted by: Kieranfoy, Faerie Godfather of Death, GMKSC, OED
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August 5, 2010 7:16 AM
I think Dog may not be a native speaker of English. He might even be writing through a really good translating program.
Doesn't make what he writes any smarter.
Posted by: glasgowaspie
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August 5, 2010 7:56 AM
Links posted. Oops, meant "links not posted". Really.
Posted by: Alice Bluegown
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August 5, 2010 8:09 AM
@ Kieranfoy - possibly, but I prefer to think he/she/it is the reincarnation of Pedro Carolino
Posted by: Alice Bluegown
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August 5, 2010 8:12 AM
Arrgh - total link fail. Just google him - you won't regret it!
Posted by: Kieranfoy, Faerie Godfather of Death, GMKSC, OED
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August 5, 2010 8:12 AM
Think you may have skakked up the link, but... I might just decide to belive in reincarnation, just to credit that theory.
Posted by: hveerten
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August 5, 2010 9:49 AM
Robert Lanza? His credentials in his own field may be good, but these writings of his are gibberish start to finish. Can actual scientists, theoreticians demand he take those down instead, or demand he at least gives up the pretense of doing theory, science?
I dissected his writings myself a while back here, but having read pharyngula (here, and here, in case someone needs the links) I bow to PZ's superior wit.
As Homer Simpsons says... It's funny cause it's true!
Posted by: Sal Bro
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August 5, 2010 11:30 AM
A Google search for "Robert Lanza" brings up Orac's post as the #7 link on page 1. Keep it up, nerds!
Robert Lanza's "biocentrism" is pseudoscience, not science.
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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August 5, 2010 12:25 PM
@ Dog
BUT HOW DO I MINE FOR FISH? BEWARE THE SACRILEGE!
I HAVE FURRY! for A WINNER IS YOU and I NEED SCISSORS 61!
Posted by: irenedelse
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August 5, 2010 1:15 PM
Recommanded reading for Dr. Lanza: the novel Passage, by Connie Willis. It's about death, life, NDEs and skepticism, and one character is a particularly infuriating pseudo-scientist who believes in life after death. The kind who invent weird untestable theories and then twists patients' testimonies to bolster his claims...
Posted by: Epinephrine
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August 5, 2010 3:02 PM
soon Lanza will learn
arrogant demands invite
the Streisand effect
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk
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August 5, 2010 3:16 PM
Wikipedia minions: there is a page on Biocentrism which could use a little filling out.
Posted by: Zernk
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August 7, 2010 7:22 AM
Dammit PZ. "Myself" is reflexive. Just say no to phony posturing and write "me" when you're the object of the sentence.
Cheeze, that word is spreading like a virus.