Comments on: Ignorant Savages

By: Jpatrick

Jpatrick — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 14:04:47 +0000

Maybe it’s time to think of an even bigger and better telescope on a different mountain. Mauna Kea isn’t the only 14,000 ft mountain in the Northern Hemisphere.

By: j0h

j0h — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 16:59:11 +0000

Allow me to repeat that important line:

It’s the bullying and the lack of respect that they hate and I can’t blame them.

By: geckzilla

geckzilla — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 16:28:25 +0000

I, too, feel shame as I read some things that some people have written about the matter as it comes through my Facebook news feed. I think this issue says more about the proponents than it does the opponents. Every time I read that it’s about superstition winning over science or that it’s just a few people who hate science… no, I don’t think that’s it. Yes, there is a kind of superstition involved, but it doesn’t mean that they hate science. It’s the bullying and the lack of respect that they hate and I can’t blame them. I understand the resentment that the astronomy community feels too, though. They’re not personally responsible for the long history that is holding this telescope hostage and who wants to own up to that history? It’s a tough cookie to swallow.

By: Jean Tate

Jean Tate — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 15:29:25 +0000

Let’s not also forget that the U.S. astronomy community is deeply divided, with two competing camps on what the next big telescope should be. Their inability to agree on a single ~30m telescope plan is a severe hindrance to progress in astronomy. While the key proponents in each camp may not be ignorant savages, they seem to come across as pig-headed egotists …

I feel this should get much more coverage than it has, to date (see a recent article in Scientifc American for details).

By: skyweek

skyweek — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 14:58:39 +0000

It’s all about tolerance! The TMT planners have worked years to make the instrument unobtrusive and eco-friendly and are eager to involve locals of all cultural backgrounds. The TMT haters just hate, no matter what – they’ve said so very clearly. If the telescope is built nobody and nothing is harmed and humanity gains on many levels, If it is not built human culture as a whole suffers.