User talk:MaineMichael

The Wikipedia article on biogenesis in the 2d paragraph stated as fact that life came from non-life at least once in earth's history. I corrected that, as that was not a statement of fact, but an assertion. I am familiar with English, history, and science; I can tell the difference between a fact and an assertion. I have an undergraduate degree, two Masters degrees, and an EdD. I am a former MENSA member. I am state certified to teach Math and Physics in high school. I have followed this issue for approaching 50 years now. As I said above, I can tell the difference between a fact and an assertion. We do not know whether life on earth originally came from non-life or whether life came from some other life. The fact is, we do not know. That's the fact. Therefore it is pretentious to say that it is a fact that life came from non-life. It is pretentious and it is WRONG. (Stating that life came from non-life as if that were a fact sounds like Dick Cheney - he wasn't always right, but he was always certain. That's what we need in science, more people like Dick Cheney.)  Saying that life came from non-life is an assertion, and the language in the Wikipedia text must reflect that. One of my grandsons has told me that he doesn't like to go to Wikipedia for information because the sites are not accurate. I have told him that Wikipedia is accurate. And here I am, now fixing a problem to make a page more accurate and two different editors have "corrected" my correction. And one of them said, no weasel words please. Obviously, that person has forgotten that in science, you can speak confidently only as far as the data allow you to speak; everything beyond that is an assertion. So, stop correction my correction! MaineMichael (talk) 18:54, 8 September 2013 (UTC)


 * All you are doing is edit warring. No one cares about the credentials you claim. Wikipedia follows the content of reliable sources. Ongoing edit warring is a sure way of being blocked from editing, so stop reverting without establishing a basis for your claims.Novangelis (talk) 19:21, 8 September 2013 (UTC)