I Think Matt Ridley Just Quoted Me
Matt Ridley gave the keynote today and said something like, "as someone once said, Greenpeace offices should have John D Rockefeller's picture on the wall because he did more than anyone else to save the whales." Hmmmm. Wonder who has been saying that?
kidmugsy:
Tut, tut, The Viscount Ridley should be capable of better than "someone": noblesse oblige and all that.
September 25, 2014, 3:21 pmGil G:
Yeah right because the problem of whaling ended in 1900 and whales had nothing since then let alone there was a Star Trek movie dealing with whales.
September 25, 2014, 9:21 pmHarry:
Horrors! Should Matt have said, "As Warren Meyer, known to deniers as Coyote, said...."?
I was thinking how I would react if anyone were to quote me, had I written it in Forbes. I guarantee that had Leonardo DeCaprio been dealt the arrow of non-attribution, he, under advisement of his entourage of lawyers, pilots, and other handlers, would not be so stupid to raise the question of shortcomings before the August
Body of the United Nations.
We trust that Coyote resolved this comflict with Mstt Ridley, and that Coyote will give a full report to his readers when he returns from Houston.
Just in case my tone might be misinterpreted by Coyote, I have learned much from both Coyote's blogs and links, and I have learned much from Matt Ridley, and I wish both good will.
September 25, 2014, 9:25 pmViktor Elefant:
I'm honestly curious. Why do you think this is an effective reply?
It's not this specific case per se, but I see arguments along the lines of "X improves A" responded with "But X does not completely solve A" (as you did) so frequently that I want to understand why one thinks a lack of perfection negates the good.
September 26, 2014, 3:34 amCapnRusty:
An honest author, having seen a phrase in an earlier author's work, thereafter wishing to use those exact words, would place them within quotation marks and provide attribution to the earlier work and to the earlier author. It is intellectually dishonest not to do so.
September 26, 2014, 4:26 ammesaeconoguy:
And as we all know, Star Trek = reality.
Seriously Gil, get help.
September 26, 2014, 7:39 amGil G:
Yes it's a tired canard. Whaling was not based solely on the oil nor was whale oil the backbone of the economy,
September 26, 2014, 7:43 amPeter:
so they should also have a picture of Mr Dupont on their walls because it was the invention of plastics that eliminated the need for baleen. Without the need for the oil or the baleen the whaling industry effectively ended.
September 26, 2014, 10:40 amViktor Elefant:
"Whaling was not *solely* based on oil."
So to clarify, you still didn't understand why your response is problematic in terms of a lack of perfection negating the good.
September 26, 2014, 3:58 pmGil G:
Since when did whaling come to a grinding halt because of oil alternatives. Reading up on what whale oil was used for shows it wasn't a particularly useful substance.
September 26, 2014, 7:52 pm