04.08.06
The Pernicious Persecution of Dr. Pianka
You may or may not have heard about Eric Pianka, he’s an apparently eccentric (self-described hermit and “desert rat”) professor of zoology (U of T, Austin) currently under attack for allegedly making some distressing statements about disease and the uncertain future of humanity. Specifically, at a lecture he gave before the Texas Academy of Sciences, he basically said that humans have overbred and are, as a consequence, inexorably sliding toward a global epidemic. He also indicated that, for a variety of reasons, an airborn strain of the ebola virus would be very effective at killing us humans… which is, of course, a long way from advocating that someone release just such a virus, or saying that it would make him happy. He has publicly stated that he meant no such thing, and would never advocate mass murder.
Yet, that is just what a number of people are saying Pianka said or meant. Forrest M. Mims III, editor of The Citizen Scientist and a creationist and the man who started the attack against Pianka, unsurprisingly goes so far as to spout the most abominable hyperbole, suggesting that we might “worry that a Pianka-worshipping former student might someday become a professional biologist or physician with access to the most deadly strains of viruses and bacteria” and attempt to let some super-disease loose on humanity. He has stirred up quite a few reactionaries, like fellow pompous blowhard Shawn Carlson, executive director at The Citizen Scientist. But fellow creationist William Dembski actually went so far as to call the Department of Homeland Security to report Pianka. It has been reported that Pianka is scheduled to be interviewed by the FBI.
Pianka, meanwhile, has been receiving a great deal of bad press, hate mail, even a death threat, despite the fact that he did not say what he was accused of saying. Defense for Pianka may be found over at Pharyngula, The Panda’s Thumb, The Anthropik Network, and numerous other places on the Web. But the damage has been done.
Such are the times we are living through, sadly.
The fact is, because of our large numbers, we human beings have put ourselves at enormous risk for a particularly virulent pandemic to sweep through our midst. We are also seeing the first fruits of global warming, a phenomenon that will see massive upheavals in our way of life within a very few generations. Pianka may be considered to be an alarmist, but I’d like to point out that alarms are what you want to have go off before the big bad takes you by surprise. Pianka is not spouting nonsense any more than scientists concerned with global warming are. There is a solid scientific basis for such concerns. Yet there are many other voices attempting to shout down people like Pianka. The answer to “Why?” is as complex and simple as human nature is. But voices like Mims’, Carlson’s and Dembski’s are easily identified for what they are: they are the voices of petty, myopic trolls with a political agenda and an axe to grind.
