If it wasn't for the fact that I find being stuck with a needle a very unpleasant experience, I would probably have spent a few mornings at Vampires, Inc. by now, instead of just this morning.
Then again, I'm not so sure that I'd want to go back, money or not, after this morning's encounter.
One of the vampires who was working in the half of the clinic I was in asked me if I was a college student, and what I was studying. I answered that I studied humans as a phenomenon in and of themselves. The vampire promptly asked me if we considered evolution to be a law in our profession despite its flaws.
Uh-oh.
Folks, never ask an anthropologist - or any reputable scientist - anything about evolution without reassuring them that you're not trying to tear it to shreds unless you want to see what a human undergoing a sudden spike in stress will do.
I answered every question as politely as I could, which turned out to be very polite even for me. Having a needle intended for patients over five hundred pounds in your arm tends to do that to you, especially if the person you are trying not to offend is the only one who is allowed to remove it.
Aside from the usual confusion over the common vernacular version of "theory" and the scientific "Theory", the vampire had issues with why humans have stopped evolving (we haven't), how life got started (the Theory of Evolution doesn't cover that, it just covers what happened after that: if you want an answer for the beginning of life, consult a chemist, not a biologist), how a rock can turn into a single-celled organism which then turns into a human (even I'm not sure what left field that came out of), and a glance in the direction of irreducible complexity, although that was never touched on.
I offered to find some basic material that answers these sorts of questions, but I doubt he'll read them. I think this was really an attempt to bait me more than anything else.
At any rate, I left the clinic minus a pint of plasma and a sawbuck richer, and with some arguments to puzzle over. I've never been so glad to be an atheist, either. You can change your ideas. Beliefs? Not so much, from what I've seen.
Edit: crud. I can't tag to save my life. I'm yanking those.
Then again, I'm not so sure that I'd want to go back, money or not, after this morning's encounter.
One of the vampires who was working in the half of the clinic I was in asked me if I was a college student, and what I was studying. I answered that I studied humans as a phenomenon in and of themselves. The vampire promptly asked me if we considered evolution to be a law in our profession despite its flaws.
Uh-oh.
Folks, never ask an anthropologist - or any reputable scientist - anything about evolution without reassuring them that you're not trying to tear it to shreds unless you want to see what a human undergoing a sudden spike in stress will do.
I answered every question as politely as I could, which turned out to be very polite even for me. Having a needle intended for patients over five hundred pounds in your arm tends to do that to you, especially if the person you are trying not to offend is the only one who is allowed to remove it.
Aside from the usual confusion over the common vernacular version of "theory" and the scientific "Theory", the vampire had issues with why humans have stopped evolving (we haven't), how life got started (the Theory of Evolution doesn't cover that, it just covers what happened after that: if you want an answer for the beginning of life, consult a chemist, not a biologist), how a rock can turn into a single-celled organism which then turns into a human (even I'm not sure what left field that came out of), and a glance in the direction of irreducible complexity, although that was never touched on.
I offered to find some basic material that answers these sorts of questions, but I doubt he'll read them. I think this was really an attempt to bait me more than anything else.
At any rate, I left the clinic minus a pint of plasma and a sawbuck richer, and with some arguments to puzzle over. I've never been so glad to be an atheist, either. You can change your ideas. Beliefs? Not so much, from what I've seen.
Edit: crud. I can't tag to save my life. I'm yanking those.
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