one more thing on Wilmott

I was telling some family members about Wilmott's article-- and was struck by one more thing.

Let's assume that he's correct for the duration of this email...

If so, it's still interesting that he sees all of this in such apocalyptic tones. If you think about it, he's worried about a relatively small group of people who reject one small (albeit significant) part of "science". Less charitably, he would say that they are dead wrong-- crazy wrong-- about this one aspect of science.

OK, so what?

If that is the criterion by which we judge individuals, who's left to start throwing stones? If that is the criterion by which we measure the future of the world, what's left to us but despair?

-How many people believe something crazy about the supernatural-- their horoscope's predictions, that the number 13 is unlucky, that there is no God, and so on.
-How many believe in some conspiracy theory-- it's all Bush/Clinton's fault, Haliburton runs the country, the Trilateral Commission runs the world, etc.?
-How many believe nutty things about economics and public policy-- free trade is bad for a country, the minimum wage is a really good policy option for the working poor, government monopolies are good, corn-based ethanol is any kind of solution to our energy dependency, mutually beneficial trade with respect to services does not create economic wealth and well-being, etc.?

The irony here is that Wilmott is as much (or more) of a "fundamentalist" as those with whom he disagrees-- and that's just on this one issue. Who knows what else lurks in the mind of a man who would write such an essay?