The End of the Line
(at least for now)

From Josh Hayes, s.b.e. moderator:
Date: August 31, 1995

After a great deal of thought and a substantial amount of input from concerned readers, I am calling a temporary halt to discussion on the Senapathy thread(s).

Articles posted on that topic will not be rejected, but will be held for posting at a later date.

I am doing this for three reasons:

First, it is clear to me that no progress is being made here. The same arguments go round and round and obviously no one will convince anyone else of the rightness of his particular school of thought. It is pointless to pursue the matter.

Second, I fear that other threads are being drowned out or stomped down by the noisiness of this one. Readership may also be suffering as potential readers see an endless sea of "Senapathy Theory Q&A" posts, and quickly skip to the next newsgroup. I think it is in the best interests of increasing readership and discussion overall that this thread be given a rest.

Finally, I have always harbored doubts that this thread was ever really appropriate for this newsgroup in the first place. As one of my correspondents suggests, the Senapathy theory (and before you ask, Jeff, yes, I DID read the book. Oy, the things I do for this group!) is fundamentally indistinguishable from creationism -- the same need for special pleading, the same inability to deal with the fossil record; in short, the same basis in fantasy -- and as such, discussion of the "theory" belongs, appropriately, in talk.origins. I would urge the participants to move their discussion there, or to (as Jeff suggests) set up a web page on the topic, or a mailing list.

For the time being, however, I am closing discussion on this topic; the articles posted this morning on the matter (and there are a couple) will be the final ones on that topic for some time.

I know that some of you will not approve of this "censorship", and I want you to know that I have not taken this decision lightly. I am, of course, interested in your opinions on the matter -- it is, after all, YOUR newsgroup -- so feel free to drop me a line at

    josh@pogo.cqs.washington.edu, or
    evolution-request@pogo.cqs.washington.edu

Josh Hayes, moderator, sci.bio.evolution

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