Re: [Killietalk] collections, new species. etc.

["Edd Kray" <edd at catfishnthecrawlers_com>]

I'm saving that post in my archives forever.

Fabulous, Bruce.

-----Original Message-----
From: killietalk-bounces at aka_org [mailto:killietalk-bounces at aka_org] On
Behalf Of Bruce J. Turner, Dept. Biol. Sci., VPISU, Blacksburg, VA 240
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 1:43 PM
To: killifish discussion list
Subject: [Killietalk] collections, new species. etc.

I think some of the points that are being raised in this discussion are
quite
valid.  We do tend to chase the "new."  But I think there are two divergent
mindsets at work here, and I think that the tension between them is healthy.

The first is:  "Let's cultivate what we have, learn how do breed/raise
more/better fish, answer some of the questions that these species raise,
etc."

The second is: "I wonder what I will find in the ____river?  Will it be new,
or
something I/ve already seen?  Is there something spectacular just waiting
for
me on the other side of the ridge?"

Put like this, the dichotomy is as old as our species.  The first mindset
gives
us farmers, scholars, engineers, scientists and clergy.  The second gives us
explorers, naturalists, collectors, dreamers and artists...

To rail against one mindset or the other is to rail against ourselves.  Each
of
us has both  and the nature of their mixture is one of
those properties that make each of us unique. In some of us, one or the
other
tends to be predominant; in others, their relative importance changes with
time
and circumstance.  When it comes to things we do because we enjoy them, each
of
us finds his own balance: one person is perfectly content breeding lyretails
for most of his life, while his neighbor collects Fundulopanchax in Cameroun
or
Gabon. There is little point in one criticizing the other...

Bruce J. Turner
Dept. Biol. Sci.
VIRGINIA TECH
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(540)-231-7444 (V)
                      "...We are Hokies.  We will prevail..."
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