pterodactyls are not dinosaurs so definitely not that! Yes, the idea is that they evolved from small feathered dinos.
The Day the Dinosaurs Died
- Thread starter Red
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pterodactyls are not dinosaurs so definitely not that! Yes, the idea is that they evolved from small feathered dinos.
Alfalfa
Well-Known Member
Are you saying that there is consensus that hypnosis works? Because that'd be news to me. It's generally seen as junk.
gandalfe
Well-Known Member
What? We were talking about dinosaurs evolving into birds.
Red
Well-Known Member
So a friend of mine found a dissenting opinion expressed by a professor emeritus of zoology at a West coast university. This friend had expressed doubts that birds were avian dinosaurs, wrote to this professor, expressing his doubts, and received this reply. I can only note the dissent; I'm hardly in a position to judge one way or another:
"Unfortunately, museum politics, careers, and public sentiment have surely played major roles in the perpetuation of the dubious proposal that today’s birds are merely dinosaurs that flew off into the Cretaceous sunset. That notion is, understandably, popular with the lay public. Not surprisingly, museums were, and remain, quick to invest millions of dollars on splashy public displays consistent with that scenario. In the process, many paleontologists have serious career investments in the "birds-are-dinosaurs” story.
However, as you suspect, there is increasing evidence that current conventional wisdom regarding dinosaurs and birds may well be inaccurate: (1) the most recent and complete cladogram analyzing bird-dinosaur relationships indicates that birds are just as likely to been derived from early non-dinosaurian archosaurs; (2) the “dinosaurs” from which birds were supposedly derived (the “raptors”) may actually have been secondarily flightless birds!; (3) so-called feathers, and/or
"proto-feathers” in many dinosaurs (e.g., Sinosauropteryx) were very likely to actually have been misidentified, sub-cutaneous collagen fibers; (4) the old problem of birds having fingers 2-3-4 as opposed to the 1-2-3 fingers in dinosaurs remains….that is, dinosaurs with fingers 1-2-3 are hardly good ancestors for birds, all of which retain fingers 2-3-4. Weak, "just-so" stories to account for those differences have been proposed to account for the finger differences, but that problem remains.
You might ask, why have these inconsistencies with the "birds-are-dinosaurs" scenario not received more public attention? Simply put, they have been systematically ignored by dinosaur “experts,” and, in turn, by the popular press. Nevertheless, all of the points I’ve made in the previous paragraph have been put forth in heavily peer-reviewed, scholarly papers that appeared in highly prestigious scientific journals (SCIENCE, NATURE, etc.). Perhaps the best single source for you to more closely review all of these issues would be Dr. Alan Feduccia’s recent book, “Riddle of the Feathered Dragons,” Yale University Press (ISBN 978-0-16435-0)."
Red
Well-Known Member
It works.
Alfalfa
Well-Known Member
Doubt it.
One Brow
Well-Known Member
Define "works". I don't see why hypnosis, performed by a professional therapist, would be any less likely to work than any other type of behavioral therapy.
Alfalfa
Well-Known Member
Because hypnosis refers to someone's ability to talk you into an altered state of perception. I have serious doubt that such a thing is real beyond the placebo effect. And from the limited research I've done, it seems to be generally considered pseudoscience.
One Brow
Well-Known Member
I agree that used for things like recovered memories, etc., hypnosis is pseudo-science. Taking mega-doses of vitamin C to prevent (pretty much anything that is not scurvy) is pseudo-science. However, that doesn't change the Vitamin C has a legitimate use.
In some ways, I would think that an altered state of perception is one of the goals of many types of behavioral therapy. If hypnosis can help with that (and I don't know if that is true), good. I don't find it to be unreasonable as an idea; it seems to fit what hypnosis is.
My wife participated in a stage hypnotist show and it really changed my stance on hypnosis. She was fully engaged in everything going on. A few things showed me how real it was to her. One thing is that she hates being cold, I mean it kicks her into mean bitch territory faster than anything else. In one part of the induction the hypnotist told them it was getting very hot (this was at lagoon for frightmares, so late October...it was butt-cold that night), and she took off her jacket and actually started to sweat. Then he told them it was getting cold. You could tell from the look on her face she was thoroughly pissed how cold it was. She was shivering uncontrollably. It was freaky. Later in the show he sent them all off the stage into the audience to do something with the audience (can't remember the exact premise) and when she came off the stage she looked right at me and, basically, through me and all of our kids and went out to other people. It was weird enough my daughter, who was about 6 at the time, said "what's wrong with Mommy, I don't like this."
Later she recounted she knew generally what was going on but that she felt like it was in a dream. She felt the heat when told it was hot and felt bitter bitter cold. Another part he said they were on a scary ride at lagoon. My wife said she saw exactly what he said they were seeing, vampires, werewolves, and was really mad that the guy made them go on that ride. She said she felt the ride move, turning side to side. It was so very real to her, even while she knew what was happening somewhere in her mind. It was crazy.
Since then she has done hypno-therapy for depression and anxiety that has helped her a lot. But it's very expensive and not covered by most insurances. But I'm a believer.
Later she recounted she knew generally what was going on but that she felt like it was in a dream. She felt the heat when told it was hot and felt bitter bitter cold. Another part he said they were on a scary ride at lagoon. My wife said she saw exactly what he said they were seeing, vampires, werewolves, and was really mad that the guy made them go on that ride. She said she felt the ride move, turning side to side. It was so very real to her, even while she knew what was happening somewhere in her mind. It was crazy.
Since then she has done hypno-therapy for depression and anxiety that has helped her a lot. But it's very expensive and not covered by most insurances. But I'm a believer.
