The 10,000th post: what shall it be?

March 1, 2015 • 1:45 pm

In only 145 more posts (144 after this one goes up), we’ll hit 10,000, and at the rate I post that will be in less than a month. Given that it’s a landmark (granted, an artificial one), and that we don’t know if I’ll get up to 20,000 (I could get sick of it all–or die), we should celebrate somehow. I’d like to have a reader-participation post of some sort—not one that says “what I got out of this website”!—and I welcome any suggestions below. If I use one, there will be a free copy of WEIT (with a cat drawn in it) coming your way.

178 thoughts on “The 10,000th post: what shall it be?”

      1. I was thinking more along the lines of a squirrel named, “Inky” and how he got so inky. 🙂

          3. … gin & tonic she had just mixed in the beaker. The taste of the mutant flies reminded her of the first time she had met the Professor…

          4. …in the dark sanctuary of the supply room. He there for ether, she cotton balls…

          5. She was breathing hard as she looked upon…

            …The End.

            It was The End of Ends, the Odd of Odds. It was the sort of End that…

            b&

  3. A post about how this site has changed your life, the life of others, the way book writers relate to book readers, and such.

    1. Is it possible to say how anything has changed anything in a world without free will???!!!

      1. In a determistic universe where beings lack classical libertarian free will, the only thing that “changes” anything is everything else acting upon it.

        When I shoot the cue ball at a rack of billiard balls, the table is rearranged; the fact that it was dictated by the mass, acceleration and direction of the cue ball does not make it incorrect for the one-ball to say he was changed.

  4. How about a review of the 10,000 posts highlighting the ones where you’ve changed your mind about a topic you’ve written about?

  5. The most concise, effective and yet kindest rejoinder to someone who says: “Evolution is just a theory!”.

    1. PS I am suggesting that readers write in with their ideas regarding this rejoinder.

    1. That was what came first into my mind. How about “10 000 cats”, and each contribute at least 10 images. It could be picked from the web.

      Maybe it will burn up Jerry’s server though…

  7. The Fermi Paradox, perhaps. I can’t find where you’ve posted on it before. I’ve thought about asking you to write on it before. It’s a fun topic to discuss and I doubt there’s many who could contribute more to it than yourself.

    1. Ah, yes, that should have been on my “kill science ideas” post: originally and more useful it was “Fermi’s Question”. (Not to confuse with the type of questions that he used so successfully to probe physics.)

      The FQ is a paradox only if you can’t propose a valid resolution. But it has a huge sector of false negatives. (Say, civilizations that stop leaking radio transmissions, or who “upload” into cloud computing, or …) So it can’t be “a paradox”, it can just be “an open question”.

      I thought the majority of biologists would say that language capable intelligence is a rare trait, and that was it. (And see: no “paradox”.) =D

      1. Oops. the problem is not that it is a huge sector of false negatives as such, it is that we can’t quantify them at this time. Maybe one day we can and perhaps then the question becomes a paradox. (Except for biologists.)

        1. Insufficient sample size was my major qualm with the notion when I was first introduced to it. Calling it a “paradox” is certainly a misnomer. We essentially have a sample size of one, so we can’t establish an approximation of any kind, except that it’s not 0. That makes the discussion no less intriguing.

  8. How about a why isn’t evolution true post. Where you or readers present their best arguments against evolution. I imagine we can do better than the creationist, but do we dare. lol

    1. I’m all for remaining open to falsification, but trying to explain “why evolution might not be true” widths seem rather like trying to explain that humans actually have nine arms and no legs.

  9. What I’d like to read: Was there a singular “magic moment”, a point of no return, in your life after which it was clear to you that you simply had to be a scientist (not necessarily biology). And if so, can you tell us what that moment was?

      1. There’s a whole book about this: Curious Minds: How a Child Becomes a Scientist. It’s one of those John Brockman edited books with short autobiographies from a lot of smart people.

        The one I remember best is by Robert Sapolsky; here’s the key quote (he had just been exposed to the some of the more horrendous parts of the bible):

        “Two nights later, I woke up in the middle of the night with the sudden cold realization: There is no God. This is gibberish. Since then, I’ve had no religion, in fact no capacity for spirituality of any sort whatsoever. This is not a cold point of view: I am as intensely emotional now as I was at the age of thirteen, and I don’t find science and emotionality to be at all contradictory. Nor do I believe that science is an emotional substitute for religion. But for me, it has finally made the religious worldview impossible.”

  10. I think it should be a drawing of a cat. I have never seen one of your cat drawings and that way We could all padte it in a copy of WEIT. Congratulations in advance.

        1. I wonder how many cats Jerry has drawn. I have one too! It would be cool if everyone who had a cat drawing sent in a photo of their version. Not really a 10,000th post idea, but a fun idea nonetheless.

        2. Wasn’t someone supposed to get a copy of WEIT plus a cat drawing for naming Joe’s (I think it was Joe) kitten? Then Blizzard of OZ kitten?

          2. Yes, and I’ve forgotten who it is and I feel bad about it. If anyone can refresh me by sending me the URLs of the two posts., I’ll be glad to send out the book. I can’t even remember the posts!

  11. State which one of the many animals (birds, invertebrates of all kinds, humans, cats, etc. etc.) Jerry has written about that you find most intriguing, and explain why.

  14. Conversation about what’s happened to the political/idealogical left and its move (or a subset thereof, not all of the left of course) to authoritarianism. Also, the influence of postmodern thinking on the left. And lastly, how we deal we this – can we deal with this? Should we deal with this? Or, will it destroy itself?

    I realize this is a controversial topic, but it’s post 10,000, so go big!

  15. A post about how humans evolved to have 10 digits on their hands, which is why 10,000 is a significant number.

    1. Barney, I disagree. It is the number of digits a *cat* has that is of real importance. So, do cats have 4 or 5 digits per paw? That is the question.

        1. Erm…Ant…you do realize that that’s using your hands at just barely three percent efficiency? I can do up to 31 on one hand.

          As a trumpeter who constantly has to count loooooong measures of rest, it’s an invaluable skill.

          b&

          2. What, base six is easy, but binary isn’t?

            I’d ask how many countable digits you have on your body in what sorts of groupings, but, somehow, I’m afraid you’d actually answer….

            b&

          4. Well, of course, the ring finger doesn’t get much lift…but it doesn’t need it; just enough to indicate whether it’s up or down.

            I should add: when you’re counting measures of rest, you’re not holding up your hand like you’re signaling to somebody else or a young child first learning or whatever. Instead, your hand is on your knee or in your lap or the like, and you don’t want to do anything that’ll be visible from the audience or distracting to the people next to you…though it’s also a good idea to count in a way that’s visible to those next to you, in case you or they get lost. Hand on knee is good for that.

            I use my right hand. Pinky is 2**0; thumb is 2**4; finger down is one, finger up is zero. When the count overflows the one hand, it continues to the left starting with the thumb as 2**5.

            b&

  16. well, the way I am today (laughing my a** off) I say your favorite moment of wonder form philomena . . . THANK YOU for sharing her musings!!!

    2. The announcement of professor Coyne’s marriage to philomena would be a good 10.000th post.

  17. More corny puns until they implode. And personally I delight in the spider that reefs up a shell to shelter in. Just sayin’. Winter can be kind of fierce up here.

    2. Corny puns! That would be a welcome break from the brilliant and classy ones we usually have.

      Shucks, I’m all ears – from husk till dawn! You know who might pop a kernel or two? Matthew Cob.

      1. Well,
        I have a cereal tractor and the pun harvester is in the shed behind an impenetrable wall of snow. The tractor is hitched up to the snow blower.

  18. Subject:
    “Critical Thinking, the new National Deficit.”
    Folks submit, stories, examples pictures.
    This may get depressing.

      1. I think the debate with John Haught and the aftermath in 2011 qualifies as a major milestone. The video was uploaded eventually. I think professor Coyne behaved admirably throughout the whole ordeal and it can rightly be called a succes story.

  20. For my suggestion of what should be ‘killed’ I’d say -although it is more a popular translation, not what scientists in the field actually think-: “Survival of the fittest”.
    It should be replaced by “Reproduction of the fit enough (if only just)”. 🙂

  21. I would recommend that readers speculate On where human evolution will take us. Whether it’s genetic or memetic or cultural development, and where the arc of morality will go forward.

    2. We won’t be us and they will won’t be us. Even though we already are thinking machines. Our abilities to make computers and robots will outpace us.

      After milennia of automation any future civilization will have very little left of what is human and it will look like space robot universe. In fact, that is an intriguing question. Just how fast can automated machines (machines making machines making machines) expand out into the universe. I would estimate only a couple of million years to span an entire galaxy on every possible solar system.

  22. I think you should sing us a song. I assume you can strum a few chords on a guitar but if not then some karaoke. Like William Shatner’s version of Rocket Man. I suggest a bubble blowing pipe instead of a cigarette.

    Your audience here are intelligent and creative enough to change the lyrics to ‘Science Man’ and it could be about Charles Darwin or someone similar, perhaps yourself.

  23. How about the introduction to The Albatross, or a selection from within, to whet our appetites for May.

    3. How about Jerry and a friend re-enacting the Albatross sketch, using the book?

      “I haven’t got any choc-ices, I’ve just got this Albatross” (holds up the book).

  25. I would say the Professor should write on something or place in his past that will educate or inform the readers. Although he has been managing this site for a few years, he has been around quite a few more. There has to be some interesting stuff in the past he could tell about. Maybe in the years at William & Mary – Williamsburg is a pretty interesting place. Possibly another location where interesting events occurred?

  26. How about a discussion of how lack of classical free will should shape our judicial and political philosophy in the future. For example, is democracy viable without free will?

  27. Because of the impact it has had on my life, and because it is the name of this web site, perhaps soliciting a short essay from readers who have read WEIT describing how it impacted them would serve several purposes: celebrate that book as important; celebrate the source of a lot of your readership; highlight the impact works like WEIT have on real people; help to generate even more interest in The Albatross, which I have pre-ordered. But it would create work for you, reading and selecting a couple to share.

    1. There are many good ideas aboot, but this one has me thinking already. Because yes, WEIT has had numerous beneficial effects on my life.

  28. I think you/we should have a big party somewhere in Chicago and celebrate the occasion with as many of your readers as can attend. Hell, if it is timed right, I would drive from up Kentucky! Your 100,000th post could be a report from the shindig.

  29. I think you should explain your usage of the exclamation mark and two dashes in this post. That is, why it is or isn’t correct usage.

    Quoting: …“what I got out of this website”!—and…

  30. A commentary on some new controversial scientific topic being debated by evolutionary
    biologists.

  32. What would you do with a million bucks?

    If one research project could get unlimited funds, what would it be?

    If you could turn one living person from a religious fundamentalist into a strident atheist, who would it be?

  35. Let’s sing a song! C’mon everyone I’ll start it off…

    10,000 bottles of beer on the wall. 10,000 bottles of beer, take one down pass it around 9,999 bottles of beer on the wall.

    Hey, why am I the only one singing? 🙂

  36. When people around me celebrate their 50th birthday as a big occasion (and it seems to be happening a lot lately) I tell them they are a year late, as 49 is (probably) the last time they will be 100 in the base of a prime number – so how about a reconsideration of your 2401th post

  38. I’d like to see a video message of inspiration from Prof. Ceiling Cat – an uplifting message for 2015 for all his readers. Sort of like the Queen’s annual speech.

    1. P.S. … or a message about what PCC would like to see happen over the next decade or so.

      Plus I’d like to see a photo of ALL his boots lined up in rows.

          2. Oh, oh, oh! And there could be a special lunch or dinner with a few of PCC’s friends/associates, where the focus will be the NOMS! Would need the photos of course to verify that this indeed did happen. 🙂

  40. Thank you for your vigorous defense of scientific method and the living legacy of Charles Darwin, one of mankind’s greatest heroes.

    Keep up the good work!

    Regards,

    John

  41. Posting without having read the others.

    Favorite references to evolution in pop culture and works of fiction.

    1. Sounds good; it’s nice to know what everyone else is thinking, especially the inaccurate thinking of large numbers of scientifically-illiterate people. Betcha the proverbial dollar to the proverbial doughnut that 80% or more of the references have something to do with “progress”.

  42. I would humbly suggest the discussion to be about why young girls who are interested in science find roadblocks everywhere.
    In the public school system I live in, Science is not a subject that the principal’s review is based on. Only reading and math. Which may explain why they only discuss it a few weeks before Science Fair. That’s it basically for the entire year.

  43. The 10,000th post should be just: “POST” and nothing more. I would find that making utterly simplistic a demarcation that some might find meaningful amusing. But, then again, I have a weird sense of humor.

    That’s not to say certain absurdities may appear in the comments.

  44. How about a post where you highlight your personal favourite aspect or example of evolution, and then each reader can identify and talk about theirs? It could be something weird or counterintuitive, something brilliantly adaptive, or just something that resonates with you personally for some reason. It seems fitting that the 10,000th post would at least concern the commencing topic of this fine website!

  45. How about your readers drawing cats for YOU for a change, and posting those?

  46. Since it will be post 10,000, how about discussing the impact of using the Internet to reach a worldwide audience discussing Evolution, Freethought, Civil Liberty issues, etc. I grew up in a world without the Internet and felt very isolated and alone in being different from the cultural norm. Thanks to the World Wide Web, I am a part of a greater Freethought community, including those on this website! Congratulations on making a difference and here’s to the next 10,000 posts! LLAP!

  47. Your post should be about how Darwin would have written on science of evolution today,his thoughts about atheism debate and evolution v/s religion.
    It would comment about free will,faith,
    morality,religious conflicts- all topics that Darwin was very much interested in . As a bonus it would allow him to write on present internet world,about blogging.He was a great letter writer and would have welcomed web for the boost of research and education in science it has provided.He was one of the first biology popularizers and world needs more of them.

    1. If Darwin were alive today we might be utterly unaware of his existence. The theory of natural selection would be credited to Wallace, Huxley would still be known as its first popularlizer, we would speak of the neo-wallacian synthesis as the seminal movement of 20th Century biology, etc.

      My only reservation about this scenario is Wallace’s spiritualism and refusal to recognize humanity as the product of the same principle as all other species. As seminal an idea as natural selection is, Darwin had the intellectual and personal courage that Wallace lacked, to think the idea through to its logical conclusion.

      2. Without Darwin, who would Wallace have sent his Ternate letter to? Without Darwin’s journals of the Beagle voyage, what are the chances that Wallace would have been anywhere near the place?

        On the other hand, if nevertheless Wallace had written the Origin, perhaps his overt but nonconformist woo would have been tossed out of biology early and more forcefully (for getting up the noses of Anglicans even more than agnostic accommodationism did), and evolutionary biology would be half a century more advanced.

        On the gripping hand…

  49. I was very busy tonight. There are so many good ideas, I cannot think to add any.

  50. I think a fitting 10K post would be to have your loyal readers help create a “greatest hits” list.

    There are undoubtedly readers who have missed terrific items that were posted before they started following the website. Such a list would also be a great reference for all the new readers who will flock to the site after The Albatross is released.

  51. What if you
    a.) looked back on your very first post, to reflect on it from your viewpoint, today;
    b.) look at how you’ve evolved as the writer of 10,000 posts;
    c.) and look at how the community you’ve developed and sustained, here, has grown and developed?
    Then, we can offer personal examples of how we’ve individually grown and developed, so you can choose a sampling, if you wish, to include in that memorable post.

    1. With respect, doc, this suggestion and a few others posted here so far seem to come perilously close to what Jerry said he didn’t want to do. 🙂

        1. Didn’t mean to single you out, doc! This seems to be a natural thought that occurs to many people.

          Some are also suggesting some pretty involved essays, as well. I’m not sure PCC has that much time to spend!

          1. Oh, I didn’t take it personally, Diane. You’re right. I just couldn’t come up with anything really good (read: really funny). Maybe Ben and Ant will work their joint magic and come up with something that would even top cat-beards.

  52. A balloon debate.

    Which person or what event is the most important in history?

    But you cannot include the Deuteronomist Historian(s) from the OT, Confucius, Buddha, Plato, Aristotle, Jesus, St. Paul, Mohammed, Galileo, Newton, Charles Darwin, Einstein. All are too obvious.

    You could outline the history and explain the importance of a person or event which might go under other persons’ radar. It would be an opportunity for us to gather the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of WEIT readers. And life-affirming, eye-opening and inspiring.

    Allele akhbar. x

    1. On, no. Can’t do that. I have 11, and every last one of them is THE cutest! Oh, and one lizard who thinks he’s a cat, too, and must therefore also be the cutest. (He’s a black and white Argentinian tegu-cat.)

  54. Maybe each of us so motivated could do something related to our many WEIT themes here, then post what we did.

    Such as–write a letter to the editor of some publication, or to one of our political reps advocating for some cause that involves reason, science, church-state relations, etc.; or binge-watch Hitchens; or bake a WEIT-decorated cake; or donate to DWB, or the FFRF, or the SCA (or similar orgs in other countries); or donate a copy of WEIT to a local school–or prison or whatever); or go out into nature and look around and contemplate something about the species that exist/coexist there; or eat/cook a meal of the sort you think Jerry would like; or go to a pub with fellow WEIT-ians and toast the 10,000 post milestone; or adopt a cat; or…

  55. Pretend you are a believer and are defending belief. (any belief) As a debater, one must be able to take any topic and defend it.

    Aaaaannnnndddd go….

  56. The 10,000th post should be about where we should have the party to celebrate this milestone. A whyevolutionistrue live event with Jerry, us readers, noms and ales. Ideally it should be held in London 😊.

  59. The future of humanity. What will we be like in 1000 years. Will they look upon this age as the beginning of reason?

  60. Everyone of the 30,000+ followers might post exactly 3 words that best describe what WEIT means to them.

  61. Might it be a time to show an amnesty to d*gs and bring them in from the metaphorical cold. For One Day Only the Prof could show his usual tolerant nature by allowing them to take over for an entire posting.The 10,000th.
    It may be apparent that I am and always have been very much a d*g person however since reading WEIT I have come to appreciate and downright enjoy the cat postings. Just let me know and I’m sure I can supply a pic or h’mmm, a hundred ……..

  63. For me, WEIT is all about love. Love of humanity and its betterment effected by embracing science and reason over superstition and hate. Love of cats (and of the animal kingdom, generally, even canines after a fashion, including their evolution), of boots, of noms, of squirrels and owls and cuteness, of good music, of humor of puns (more a contributors’ obsession than the proprietor’s), of sticky questions about ethics and existence, and of course love for (and among) an audience of knowledge-hungry Internet time-wasters and work-avoiders.

    Love is often cited by believers as the emotion which non-believers can neither explain nor fully experience – and yet the lie is put to both of those claims on a regular basis on this website; and to the experiencing part, daily and repeatedly.

    Is it just a trick of language that we use the word “love” to describe our attitude toward so many kind of things? Our does the feeling emerge from the same center(s) that cause us to love sexual partners, family members and friends? Does human love differ by degree or by kind from the sense that looks-like-love among other vertebrates?

    Love is all there is, said the mumbling, unkempt bard, and it makes the world go ’round; love and only love, it cannot be denied. I can hardly think of a topic more germaine to the project of this website, nor one more devastating to the closely-held delusions of believers when given its proper dissection. If not for the 10,000th post, I think it would make for a great scientific and personal exploration in which I’d, er, love to participate!

    1. And, just to add, it doesn’t matter what you think about it: you won’t be able to live without it. Take a tip from one who’s tried …

  64. I think Jesus & Moe should celebrate your milestone by quoting you (or otherwise referencing you) in a comic! Also, I’d like to see Jerry Coyne the Cat in a party hat.

  65. Somehow the only thing that came to mind was – “finally answering how you can type with boxing gloves on”, but …

    (Shout out to those who get this.)

  66. I think we could all agree (as much as I’d love a WEIT party with noms and ale, as one user suggested) that probably the most reasonable and most fun would be either a live or pre-recorded Q&A with Jerry. Sam Harris has done similar things before, answering questions from fans of various social media websites.

    This would be a special and fun way to celebrate that enables virtually all of us to be involved and interact with Jerry. And it’s resigned exclusively to members of this site! (So…presumably better questions than random people on Tw**ter…if the above suggestions are anything to go by, he’ll have some great things to discuss!)

    The 9,999th post could simply be an open forum for questions from all of us to chime in and ask anything we’d be curious about. Everything from funny to the philosophical or biological and everywhere in between. There will likely be a lot of submissions, so Jerry and scan through them and pick the best or most interesting and then post a 15-20 min or so video of himself answering them in #10,000.

    I think this would be a great opportunity for us to interact and hear the Professor’s views about a great number of things!

  67. In line with the name of this website, and the wonderful book with the same title, how about the best scientific discoveries that have been made supporting evolution since the website started? Perhaps a transitional fossil or two, or discoveries in molecular research. A reminder that the evidence for evolution was overwhelming when WEIT was written and the website was launched, and it’s even stronger now.

  68. Even though inappropriate unless badly bent I thought of a festschrift so I went to the Journal Wiki just to see. I think it could work but I liked even better the notion of liber amicorum (book of friends).

    A day when readers would post whatever is on their minds regarding 10000 posts.

  70. How about our own personal “elevator speeches” – the short, memorable explanations we offer about why science works better than religion to describe/understand what’s real?

  71. Lots of good ideas so far. I’m looking forward to whatever actually transpires.

    Not sure if PCC is a big fan of top 10 lists, but if so, I’d like to see the 10,000th post one (or more) of Jerry’s, and a request for lists from the readers. Whatever, serious or trivial (wait a minute; are we atheists allowed to take a break from our existential despair to have fun? I keep forgetting). Such as 10 favorites pieces of evidence for evolution, 10 hardest facts of the natural world for creationists to explain away, 10 most important fictional cats, 10 most important real cats, 10 best rock songs, 10 worst rock songs, 10 most overrated celebrities, 10 books you’d take to the proverbial desert island, 10 politicians you’d send to the desert island, so long as you weren’t going to be there, 10 words you’d most like to hear Philomena Cunk pronounce, ad infinitum.

      2. Two more monkeys and you have enough for a calendar. Not sure what month 9 would be.

  73. I recommend a post on what key trait(s) provide the best evidence of UN-intelligent design in organisms that indicate why there is neither an intelligent creator who designed species, nor guided their evolution (the latter is the ilk of more so-called progressive or ‘sophisticated’ accommodationists who accept species arise by evolution but state that it is guided by God)

  74. I know this is a very old post (& the 10K milestone has passed), but I couldn’t resist peeking back at it to read the suggestions I missed (& then commenting despite the thread being dead). There are quite a few very appealing, engaging ideas here, Prof. CC, & I hope you might consider some of them for some of your (post-10K) posts.

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