Comments on: Margie Profet: a controversial scientist who went missing

By: Gunker

Gunker — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:37:00 +0000

All matter consists of chemicals, always has, always will

By: Fornicus

Fornicus — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:38:00 +0000

1) If you’re saying she was being self-deprecating, I can see how that was lost in transcription.

2) Good point: I took the prof’s astonishment to be at the idea that she was uneducated, not that she was doing nothing with her degree. Details of her education were only given after the quoted paragraph, hence my reaction that the writing of the article was overly-dramatic.

3) That was my point, though I may not have made it clearly: making a contribution to the field of evolutionary biology while having a background in political philosophy (and later physics) is impressive enough without having to suggest they are a wage slave in the service industry.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:27:00 +0000

So… has Fornic thus been served?

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:05:00 +0000

Well there was a recent report about rat developing allergies after being given antibiotics, while a test group in the same environment did not.

By: Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Has anybody checked the State Home For Manic Pixie Dream Girls ?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Can you get any job other than waiting tables with a bachelor’s in political philosophy? While we’re at it, are we assuming that nobody in the service industry has a degree? And is a bachelor’s in political philosophy a credential for scientific acumen?

By: UniAce

UniAce — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Her theories were substantive and TESTABLE (falsifiable), and were published in scientific peer-reviewed journals. That’s a legitimate contribution to real science.

By: Fornicus

Fornicus — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:43:00 +0000

“Bruce Ames met Margaret Profet while he was teaching a toxicology seminar to physics students at Berkeley. Her soft-spoken yet astute remarks stopped him mid-stride. In a “who are you” moment, Ames asked Profet about her background. He “almost fainted” when Profet told him she was a waitress.”

Er, by the time she was at Berkeley she had a bachelor’s from Harvard in political philosophy. To identify herself as a waitress was disingenuous, but makes excellent copy.

By: Comman Dax

Comman Dax — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:40:00 +0000

Or perhaps in response to our chemical-laden living.

By: Guest

Guest — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:39:00 +0000

the line between the two, is science.

By: mindfu

mindfu — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:36:00 +0000

She seems to not have been selling snake oil or trying to convince people to stay away from healthy procedures, while also adding to the general pool of scientific information even if one of her most passionate proposals seems to have been quite wrong.

For those reasons, as an unbiased reader this presentation of her here seems reasonable to me.

By: doctorrosenrosen

doctorrosenrosen — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:09:00 +0000

How does boingboing decide which pseudo-scientists to mock, and which to present as creative geniuses working outside the constraints of the scientific establishment?

Is it a judgement of character? Politics?

By: Emmanuel Lambert

Emmanuel Lambert — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Big Pharma killed her of course!

By: BillStewart2012

BillStewart2012 — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:25:00 +0000

I met Margie at a conference in the mid-90s or early 00s. Interesting person, hope she’s ok.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:11:00 +0000

And that is why there is such a thing as independent testing and verification, tho that cornerstone is under siege by the increasing cost and complexities of experiments.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:10:00 +0000

I am not saying it is a problem, i am questioning the view of it being a feature rather than a bug. Still, allergies are all over the place these days. Apparently thanks to our overly clean living.

By: Lobster

Lobster — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:37:00 +0000

Funny, because come Spring my nose seems to contain more than 3 oz. of liquid.

By: Lobster

Lobster — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:36:00 +0000

Oooooooooh, I bet she was abducted by BIIIG PHARMAAAA oooooooh.

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:46:00 +0000

“There is a thin line between Genius and Madness: I have erased this line.” – Oscar Levant

By: C W

C W — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:37:00 +0000

“For Profet, all three biological processes were part of the same system.”

The ability to unify theories is definitely a sign of intelligence, however the desire to unify all not-necessarily-connected theories can also be a sign of madness :(

Hopefully her life could offer some benefits to society and isn’t only restricted to the malformed ideas and linkages. Hopefully she’s at least able to live happily on her own terms, or at worst, able to get the care she needs.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:32:00 +0000

Meh, my understanding of allergy is that is the normal human immune system gone fear mongering. Basically the biological equivalent of the US security apparatus post-9/11.