PZ Myers. 2005 Sep 21. Why didn't anyone tell me it's Lurker Day?. <http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/why_didnt_anyone_tell_me_its_lurker_day/>. Accessed 2008 Nov 20.

Posted on M00o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr on Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Why didn't anyone tell me it's Lurker Day?

Chris Clarke started it. Lauren gave the bandwagon a push. I guess I'll hop on and go for a ride.

If you're a lurker who's been reading and never commenting, go ahead and say "Hiya!" in the comments here. Or tell me I suck, or something. Tell me what I'm supposed to write, or not write. Tell me who you are.

Posted by PZ Myers on 09/21 at 12:41 PM
Weblogs • 4 Trackbacks • Other weblogs • Permalink
  1. Dunno if I count as a lurker, but I comment pretty rarely. I only came across your blog recently, but I used to participate pretty regularly on TO and remember you from the good old days. I enjoy and appreciate your work, and if I don't comment, don't take that as disinterest. Just count the page views.

    Cheers,
    Craig
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:01 PM
  2. I had never even read a blog until I found a reference to yours in Newsweek's "blogs to watch" about a month or so ago. Now I am hooked, which is good for my knowledge base - I actually found two very useful references on your site that I had not previously encountered. So while popping on and off your site a few times a day is not speeding my dissertation along, I have already been paid back in knowledge what I have spent in time. Plus now I see what (science) blogs are all about . . .
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:06 PM
  3. I'm a notorious lurker. A Gynecologist, surgeon, researcher, raised-southern-baptist-turned-athiest. I enjoy your topics and writing style (logical, brief, to the point)
    #: Posted by Alan Johns, M.D.  on  09/21  at  01:09 PM
  4. hiya. you something. [you wrote "tell me i suck or something". since you don't suck, you something.]

    thanks for making modern biology accessible. also, thanks for continuing to take out the trash. it's a smelly job but needs doing.

    since you're probably curious about your lurking readership, i'm a 40ish land use/water rights attorney in southern california. i think i first found my way here via crooked timber.

    cheers

    p.s. what's a zygotene?
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:10 PM
  5. I'm Dustin Locke, a philosophy graduate student from the University of Michigan and a very big fan of pharyngula.. I've never commented but I sent you an email the other day. In it, I called to your attention the NAS definition of "fact":

    "an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as 'true.'"

    There's bad definitions and then there's bad definitions. This is clearly both. I'll let you come up with your own counter-examples.
    #: Posted by dtlocke  on  09/21  at  01:13 PM
  6. I found this blog through some other blog, and enjoy reading your entries because I dislike the creationists, and like seeing someone fighting the good fight.

    I also love biology, but found I didn't have the patience for lab work in college. So I focused on literature, and I try to learn about biology when I get the chance. Your site's good for that.

    I work at Sloan-Kettering Institute's Developmental Biology Program as a basic administrator, so I'm constantly surrounded by mice, drosophila, and pretty soon, zebrafish.

    I rarely comment, because I have little of substance to add, aside from "YES THAT IS TRUE" or "I ALSO HATE BIBLICAL LITERALISM" or "OKAY I GUESS THAT'S HOW THE TWIST GENE WORKS."
    #: Posted by Greg Nog  on  09/21  at  01:14 PM
  7. I guess I'm a lurker: I have visited you several times a day for a little more than a year (which is easier now that I've discovered the wonders of RSS), but have never commented. I must admit that I talk about you often enough with my friends that we are all on a first name basis with you.

    I'm a lawyer (or will be after the Bar results come in November) from Texas and an atheist. I love reading your blog and many of those in your web, but, like many of your lurkers, I suspect, I don't have the ability to comment intelligently on most of your posts.

    Keep up the good strong work. Babyarm.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:15 PM
  8. I learned about your site while reading about creationism. I never knew much about it until I discovered my wife was a creationist and was teaching that belief to my kids. Reading your outrage is cathartic.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:16 PM
  9. I'm just a crap lurker. I've commented here one or twice, though I read here almost every day.
    #: Posted by dtl  on  09/21  at  01:17 PM
  10. I can't remember the last time I commented, so I guess I count. I've been reading your blog (almost) daily basically since you first started. I'm a Computer Science student at Montana State University.

    So, yeah, keep up the good work.
    #: Posted by Jeff  on  09/21  at  01:18 PM
  11. I've been a lurker for awhile now. I'm a High School Science Teacher. Your Blog rocks! Happy Lurker Day fellow Lurkers!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:18 PM
  12. Notorious lurker here. I live in notoriously conservative Orange County, CAMy education as an engineer has made my interest in the evolution vs. creationist/ID arguements a daily reading for me now. I was exceptionally distressed by our president avocating ID.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:19 PM
  13. Hi ya. I'm a lurker, never commented. I read this blog every day, and I enjoy it.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:21 PM
  14. I too am addicted to Pharyngula (and Panda's Thumb and other affiliates), but have not posted. I guess this is my way of saying "howdy" before I go back to the shadows. Good site, needs more octopi.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:21 PM
  15. I'm mostly a lurker, I comment occasionally. Recently started my own blog (topic: whatever comes to mind). I'm a software designer with strong interests in biology and evolution, and I really appreciate the time, effort, and enthusiasm you put into this.

    That said, the fighting with creationists and ID'ers, while politically important, is kinda boring if you already know what side you are on. I am interested in new approaches to letting science and religion co-exist (as in SJ Gould's NOLA) so both areas of discourse can go about their respective business.
    #: Posted by MTraven  on  09/21  at  01:31 PM
  16. I read "The Blind Watchmaker" some years ago and was fascinated by the section on creationism/ID. Found talk.origins shortly after, then Pandasthumb and last (but not least...) your page.

    I love your responses to ID/creationism propaganda and the biology/evolution factiods. Also like that you don't cover up being an atheist and try to side-step religious issues.

    All in all a nice distraction from my chem. eng. studies.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:31 PM
  17. Longtime lurker, so Hiya PZ, and thanks for all the nifty information, great arguments, and solid trouncing of the ID-obsessed religious zealots. You make my mornings shiny bright and new, like windex.
    #: Posted by DrunkHamlet  on  09/21  at  01:31 PM
  18. Hiya Paul.

    I only discovered your blog recently, but a few years back, I was pretty active on talk.origins, and when I saw a link to your blog from somewhere else, I was immediately hooked.

    I haven't commented yet, because in general, when you're skewering the weenies, you don't need my help; and when you're talking biology, I'm
    interested, but far too clueless to say much. I'm pretty much a math guy.

    -Mark
    #: Posted by Mark Chu-Carroll  on  09/21  at  01:32 PM
  19. Hiya.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:33 PM
  20. Hey this is really great. I can't wait for troll day.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:33 PM
  21. Hiya!
    Great, great blog; informative and extremely entertaining! Yep, even physicists like to read about biology.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:33 PM
  22. Hey, howdy, hey.

    I don't really recall how I found this site, but I come here almost daily.

    However, the nature of the material keeps me from commenting most of the time. I enjoy reading about biology even if much of it is something I don't fully grasp at this time.

    Awesome work. Thanks.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:35 PM
  23. Here's a big how-do and a wave from an Oregon lurker!

    jaydog
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:36 PM
  24. Do Trackbacks count as comments (or is that still in lurky waters)?
    #: Posted by Dr. Free-Ride  on  09/21  at  01:36 PM
  25. Hello PZ. Please keep up the fight against ID in schools. I would prefer you get the trolls and haters but settle the (non)issue soon so I don't have to fight my local school board eventually.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:39 PM
  26. Reporting in from the Great White North. I'm a graduate student at McGill University, and enjoy the blog immensely. My research project involves studying the population dynamics of transposable elements, so I like hearing about all the evo-devo stuff so I can keep up with my friends down at the museum. Keep it up!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:42 PM
  27. Longtime lurker here... I'm an anthropology undergrad at the University of Utah. I stumbled across your site some time ago (from where I can't remember) and I've been addicted ever since. Your blog is among my favorites. As for what you are "supposed to write" (or not), I don't think you need to change anything. Keep up the good work.
    #: Posted by Garrett  on  09/21  at  01:43 PM
  28. Greetings! I'm pretty much a lurker, but I've made a couple comments. Since I'm a very part-time college student and not involved in science any deeper than a fascination and hobby, I don't really feel qualified to comment most of the time. I like this blog and check it a few times a day because it's frequently amusing and, hey, I usually learn something.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:44 PM
  29. Just want to add my appreciation. I'm a long time sceptic lurker who appreciates the work you are doing through your blog. UTI and Pharyngula educate me and keep my perspective straight.

    Thanks!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:44 PM
  30. Hi, PZ. I'm a recent UW-bio grad and have been lurking here for a few weeks. I'm also easily the high score on Dembski's panda game.

    Keep up the good work!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:48 PM
  31. Lurking is an understatement... I've been stalking your blog for the last month or so, checking multiple times a day and trying to read all the old posts. I've been meaning to comment, but generally you cover the topics adequately enough on your own. Anything I have to add is moot. I'm a biology major in Columbus, Ga (creation central) and I plan to pursue genetics of some sort in grad school. I like to square off against all the creationists I work with, not to debunk their beliefs or theories, just to try to make them think every once in a while. We talk about everything from evolution to politics. They generally just piss me off (a girl once told me she thinks an attack like the one on the twin towers was justified in God's eye). Anyway, I use your arguments and enjoy your discussions of religion and stupidity to no end. Keep up the good work.
    #: Posted by Neoteny  on  09/21  at  01:50 PM
  32. Hi. I'm a grad student in political theory. I love reading this blog and have ever since I heard about it (from a link I think) maybe 9 mos ago or a little more. This is the only comment I've written.

    Defending the Enlightenment is important, and I like that part of the blog a lot. But I think my favorite part is when you take unusual bio papers, esp. evolutionary bio, and tell us about them.
    #: Posted by Joey  on  09/21  at  01:51 PM
  33. Hi PZ! I don't comment that often so I guess I qualify as a lurker. I am not as eloquent as others who post. I LOVE your site. I came across it while looking up exploding frogs. (remember that?!?) One thing I really like about your site is being able to find books and other learning materials so I can teach my child what she should be learning in school.

    Thanks!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:53 PM
  34. PZ: I'm a lawyer (redeemed, I hope, by having done a BSc first) who uses the time I'm not gainfully employed to read military history and science and play wargames (not paintball, and not FPS). I stumbled across pharyngula.org a few days ago in hunting up ammo for creationist bashing in my backyard (web version) and have been hooked since.

    As to what you should write, you're doing spectacularly well as it is, so 'stay the course' - even that stopped clock is right now and again. There is an enormous amount of exciting biology material here, as well as excellent humour at the expense of creationists and right wing loons. That anyone would cling to the blinkered thinking that keeps creationists from experiencing the wonder of discovery that is laid out for folk here astounds me no matter how often I run into such folk.

    That despite being a believing Catholic who has no trouble reconciling God and evolution/naturalism in science, taking a Gouldian view.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:53 PM
  35. i probably count as a lurker (3 or 4 comments in a year). i've been reading your blog for ~ 1 year.
    me:
    Postdoc in condensed matter physics. i am very concerned by the attempts to take down science and replace it with midevil philosophy as an attempt to get at evolutionary bio (frankly every scientist should be).

    i read your blog because it gives me insights to biology (a field i would study if my skillset overlapped with it), you call out the creationist/anti-science hacks, you give insights to being a professor (a career i aspire to), and the comments teach me a lot.

    i comment rarely because more often than not someone else says what i wanted to in a more consice and instructive way. And i tend to babbly when i get the chance (see what i mean?)

    So i say ust keep up the good work. And i'll keep my place creepily watching from next to the punch bowl.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:55 PM
  36. Hi. I'm a high school biology teacher in a rural community. I just ticked off several parents at back to school night by explaining how tightly evolution is integrated within my curriculum. It made the principal wince, but the Superintendent was happy - his son is in my class.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:55 PM
  37. People who have better grammar and all-around style than me are posting that they're lurkers because they have nothing of value to add...
    I guess I probably SHOULD be a lurker.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:56 PM
  38. I had never even read a blog until I found a reference to yours in Newsweek's "blogs to watch" about a month or so ago. Now I am hooked, which is good for my knowledge base - I actually found two very useful references on your site that I had not previously encountered. So while popping on and off your site a few times a day is not speeding my dissertation along, I have already been paid back in knowledge what I have spent in time. Plus now I see what (science) blogs are all about . . .

    Oh, I am a 36 year old finishing Ph.D. student, studying development and evolution of the vertebrate skeleton - using zebrafish in a comparative context. My name is, shockingly, Trish, and I have been known to argue that ctenophores are cooler than fish. Not that fish aren't pretty darn cool.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:56 PM
  39. I read your blog regularly and think my last post would
    amuse a Biologist.

    Here is an interesting reductio ad absurdum I thought of while reading a Bio-chemistry book yesterday:

    I once read, in an Ecology book, of a species of fish where the female of the species had to mate with a male
    of another species before it could be receptive to a male of its own species.

    In an evolutionary world the explanation would be: At some time in the past this strategy enhanced the success of individuals in this species and the practice has survived.

    In an Intelligent Design world the explanation would be:
    The 11th Commandment: Woman, lie ye with thy neighbor and return receptive to your husbands seed.
    #: Posted by Larry  on  09/21  at  01:58 PM
  40. I've rarely posted, but read every day (multiple times a day, actually).

    My only comments would be a) keep up the great work, I enjoy both the facts AND the outrage! and b) did you receive the donation I PayPal'ed a while back? I am kind of suspicious about online payments anyway, and having not heard anything I wasn't sure it came through.

    Oh, and I am a scientific featherweight, having graduated with a double major in English and Art. I am currently a graphic designer, and my sole claim to fame is having made the HeroMachine super-hero generator for kids (and adults who, like me, refused to grow up).

    Jeff Hebert
    #: Posted by Jeff  on  09/21  at  01:59 PM
  41. Hi, I'm another of the lurkers. Great job, keep it up
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:00 PM
  42. Hey, lurker from Eindhoven, The Netherlands here. I found out about your blog at the IIDB forums and have been lurking here for about a year now.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:05 PM
  43. I'm a geologist who has always had an interest in biology/paleontology. Obviously I am not fond of fundamentalists, since mine is one of the professions they habitually attack and distort. I've never commented because I can never think of anything sufficiently erudite to say!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:05 PM
  44. Ya got me! I'm not so much a lurker as simply lazy. I started out at talk origins (By the way, Mark Chu-Carroll may be a neighbor, but he isn't a relative, as far as I know. I do know he knows his thermodynamics. Keep it up, PZ! Not everyone has to be polite. In fact, outrage is a reasonable response to the crap that we have to put up with. Bob
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:07 PM
  45. Another anthropology undergrad here. I come for the smackdowns and stay for the pie.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:08 PM
  46. Yeah, another lurker. I'm a non-scientist (a writer, artist, and rare book conservator) who has a good layman's understanding of most science (biology the weakest, though...) Very much appreciate your efforts to combat the prideful stupidity of creationists, the ignorance of the media types, and the growing influence of religion on politics. These are issues important to us all, whether or not we're in the sciences, because only rational enlightenment can offer us hope. More info about me (and my artistic project to 'Paint the Moon' several years ago) on my websites.

    Keep fighting the good fight!


    Jim
    #: Posted by Jim  on  09/21  at  02:11 PM
  47. Hi, I'm a marketing consultant, no real biology background (though my husband has a BA in biology and is in the medical field). I found your site during Schiavo discussions and have lurked ever since. I love your posts on ID vs evolution, and appreciate your passionate (and spot-on) defense of fact-based science. OK, back to the shadows!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:14 PM
  48. I'm an almost-daily lurker, college teacher and dressage horse trainer. I've never posted here, although I did e-mail a question to PZ which he kindly answered.

    Last winter I met a couple who were rabid young earthers. I hadn't known, before then, that there were actually adult people who honestly thought the earth was only 5,000 years old. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I hurried to the Internet to research. I was relieved to find all sorts of reality-based sites, including Pharyngula, which is at the top of my list of must-reads.
    #: Posted by folderol  on  09/21  at  02:15 PM
  49. I think I found the site somehow via Randi's site or the Skeptics Dictionary, and check it out most every day. Very educational, especially on top of my whopping one high school class in biology, and I do enjoy the smack-downs of the creationist/ID clowns with those annoying facts of yours.

    Also, and I'm not sure if this is a good thing, I do now think of PZ whenever I see references to squid, octopi, or Cthulhu. Especially if they're also dressed in pirate regalia...
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:15 PM
  50. Hiya. I read Pharyngula every day. I've got your RSS feed in my list in Akregator. I found you after subscribing for a while to the DebunkCreation yahoo group.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:15 PM
  51. I'm a lurker... and actually your blog is one of my favorites. I check it right after Sadly, No! every morning. And in between classes. And once I get my wireless card working, during classes. I don't comment because... well I rarely have anything else to add to the discussion beyond "great post!" or "excellent point" or "omfg u pwned them!" or somesuch.
    #: Posted by Steve  on  09/21  at  02:16 PM
  52. Hello. I found you through Sadly, No! I love your blog, but I never comment because I don't usually have anything to add to the discussion and because I'm really shy. I wish I could have read this when I had to take science in school; I would not have been bored into hating it.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:17 PM
  53. Hälsningar från Sverige (hi from Sweden)
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:19 PM
  54. Got here about a month ago via some forgotten reference and was hooked straight away. British; academia/publishing; enjoy this blog for its combination of high information & entertainment content with very low bullshit tolerance.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:21 PM
  55. I occasionally comment, and then almost immediately regret it -- I'm too long-winded, and usually come way late into a thread. I'm a technical writer, a jazz musician, and a freethinker. I love the science posts and the unabashed, unapologetic atheism. I sometimes skim over the anti-creationist posts, because frankly, while I'm forever grateful that you do it, how many times can I read the same damn thing?
    #: Posted by HP  on  09/21  at  02:21 PM
  56. Long-time lurker. Middle-aged public interest lawyer representing people with HIV in Chicago. Proud member of the reality-based community. Appreciative reader.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:24 PM
  57. I've only been visiting the site since I saw your URL in Liberal Oasis, around the time the Kansas Board of Education fiasco. I'm a plant biogeographer, who fell a little short of a Ph D., work for the state of California addressing hazardous waste, and am trying to keep my atheist, materialist 13 year old geologist son on the planet and thinking long enough to get to the university where his point of view is more acceptable.

    I was involved with the creationist crap at my school back in the late 1980's. Things don't seem to have changed.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:26 PM
  58. I am kind of a lurker, I've made a few innocuous comments here and there. I came over from Orac's blog -- who I often encountered on Usenet over the past few years.

    After the unfortunate frog incident with the sadistic lab partner in 7th grade science, I avoided biology in school (I talked the high school counselor to into letting me skip 10th grade biology, so that I could take chemistry instead, and physics in 11th grade... because I intended, and did graduate a year early). I have a degree in aerospace engineering with a structures emphasis... But since having children, including one with special needs, I've been playing biology catch-up.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:27 PM
  59. UK Lurker here. Daily Pharyngula reader. Mostly I would just say "me too", so I don't say much. I lived in the US for a few years, and I find the political dimension of the Creationist movement fascinating and horrifying.
    #: Posted by Reluctant Cannibal  on  09/21  at  02:27 PM
  60. hiya dr.myers

    have been a lurker at pharyngula for about a year now.

    i am from india. i came to the US 7 yrs back to pursue a masters program in engineering. i have lived here since. currently, i live in florida.

    i check ur site several times daily, considering ur high posting frequency. i enjoy ur "brutal" style of writing grin
    i also enjoy the high-quality comments ur posts elicit.

    i remain silent coz doing otherwise would add to the "noise" component of the signal/noise ratio here.
    #: Posted by buck  on  09/21  at  02:28 PM
  61. Eep. Hiya. Back to lurking.
    #: Posted by Fuzzy  on  09/21  at  02:28 PM
  62. canadian, who's never felt the need to post since someone usually says what i want to say first. excellent blog though...a daily read.
    oh, and the pirate thing was great.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:34 PM
  63. Yes, I am a lurker - sometime poster, mostly affirmations of your thoughts. Got on to your site through John Hawks, and to his site through my continuing interest in Anthro, which was my major in college, way back in the 70's. Got into retail sales after school, never looked back and now into marketing, which gives me time to read your site a couple times a day.

    I leave it to you and your more eloquent and studied posters to make sure the IDiots don't get carried away, and carry away our country. Thanks for all the work on your site!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:35 PM
  64. I don't remember how I found this blog, but I've been reading it daily for over a year. I sometimes spend so much time reading that I'm forced to admire the time you must spend writing it and keeping up with the comments.

    I dropped out of the highly regarded genetics program at the UW after two years. I still like biology. Sorry that I couldn't get off my butt to meet up with you in New York.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:36 PM
  65. Alright I guess since you twisted my arm. My brother "the Pooflinger" (pooflingers.blogspot.com) sent me your way and now I check it all the time. BTW if anyone's interested, his site has some pretty pictures of my severely sprained ankle. You should check them out.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:37 PM
  66. Arrr PZ, ye scurvey dog!
    I've commented a couple of times, but generally lurk. I love your acid touch. I*think* I came here from OGM, but it might have been BoingBoing.
    40-something IT consultant from New Zealand, tired of the crap organised religion makes of the world.

    mark
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:37 PM
  67. Hey PZ. Computer guy by occupation, biologist by training. I've been reading your blog (and associated links) for the last 5 months or so. Keep up the good work.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:41 PM
  68. Hi there! I suppose I count as a lurker, since I've only commented a couple of times. As someone who recently obtained a master's degree in evolutionary biology I am awed by your ability to combine the normal requirements of academia (keeping on top of your professional teaching duties, research, and staying current in pertinent literature) with reading widely from the biology and philosophy blogging community and posting multiple times a day. You must never sleep. But I appreciate it. I've been coming to your site a couple of times a day for the last year and have come to depend on you as a secondary net helping ensnare the coolest stuff from the vast oceans of cyberspace. Thanks a lot!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:43 PM
  69. Hey! I was turned on to your blog by surfing for anti-Creationist websites. I am a PhD. student in biological anthropology and an instructor for Forensic Anthropology at my institution. I just like to lurk to find responses to questions my students ask me about evolution in non-human animals and other biological questions that are not directly biological anthropology because my knowledge deals almost exclusively with hominids and other primates rather than general biological information.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:44 PM
  70. Good evening from a lurker from across the water! I'm a scientific editor with a pretty strong (PhD) level biology background, but I've been left floundering for cogent argument at times as creationism begins to creep into UK schools. My son is now 17, studying biology, and I need all the ammunition possible to help him stand up and say that ID is barely worth dignifying with the term 'bad science': it just isn't science. Thanks to you and many fellow US bloggers for convincing me that there's still plenty of sanity in the States and people willing to voice these beliefs stridently.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:45 PM
  71. Thanks - I'm a daily reader. I'm a Canadian MD, with a background in physics. We share similar politics, and a disdain of religion, especially organized religion.

    Truly enjoy your synopses of major biological concepts; and your sharp rebuttals of creationist arguments.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:45 PM
  72. Read it every day ...
    John Stone
    Microbiology/Genetics

    http://curbstonecritic.blogspot.com/
    #: Posted by hellbender  on  09/21  at  02:47 PM
  73. Errm, wow. I put up this little blurb, go off to teach a class (well, the students taught it this time. Neuronal migration, very cool), and when I come back I find so many comments I thought I was under a spam attack.

    There is much pent up expression here. Comment more, people!
    #: Posted by PZ Myers  on  09/21  at  02:49 PM
  74. Hi. I also lurk at UW Milwaukee as a physics grad student. I read four blogs right now, every single one of which celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day, including a physics blog, a comedian's blog, and a gal living in Paris.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:49 PM
  75. I've been lurking your site for the past few months. I work in corporate IT, but my initial interests as a child were astronomy first and paleontology second. A woeful science curriculum in high school (woeful because of its emphasis on public exam competency rather than fundamental ideas which stimulate the mind) weaned me from these interests and my tertiary interest, personal computers, took over. I have spent the past few years re-acquainting myself with my childhood interests, and I appreciate your ability to present information about the biological sciences in a format understandable by non-experts such as myself.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:50 PM
  76. I lurk from this fine town of strange religious institutes. My secret word is "mutant."
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:51 PM
  77. I've been reading for a couple of weeks now. I think I found this site through Kung Fu Monkey, but I've since encountered several other links to you. I'm a math/physics person with low tolerance for bad science. Keep up the good work!
    #: Posted by Qalmlea  on  09/21  at  02:54 PM
  78. Hiya,

    I've commented once or twice, but I mostly lurk. Thanks for the great site.

    May you be touched by his noodly appendage.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:55 PM
  79. Greetings from Greece. For the last 5 months or so I've been visiting your site every day. You've turned me into an addict. Keep up the good work.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:58 PM
  80. Hiya - lurker from New Zealand here (a country where we think of you as pee zed), MSc Grad in information science (sucked in biology 101) working in electronic publishing. Sorta glad the whole creationist/ID thing is mostly far away from these shores, although we do find the odd fundy over here.
    I visit most days and as DaveL says I love to see the clown smackdowns when you use those pesky facts of yours. I mostly appreciate the sheer quantity of posts on the site - I know that I can visit several time a day and can usually expect to see something new.
    Keep fighting the good fight.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  02:58 PM
  81. Hi. I guess I am a lurker for I rarely comment. I am an undergraduate in biology/physics/chemistry. I love the science on your site! Don't change a single thing.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:01 PM
  82. Hiya PZ,

    Yeah, I'm a lurker. I lurk, therefore I am. I work for a publishing company (library reference books), and I'm the guy who sent you Genie Scott's and Mark Isaak's books. Although I read/enjoy your evolution/creationism pieces, I am actually more of a fan of your straight biology pieces -- I think you have a knack for explaining scientific ideas, and the process of science, in an accessible way. Those are also your more joyful pieces -- you're able to express the pleasure of finding things out better than most. I like that. It's something that I think is missing from most public discussion about science, and I think it's something that science blogs in general, in the right hands, can add to the broader public understanding of what science is and what science can be. (You are also, I might add, pretty darn good at expressing annoyance and frustration, which is also enjoyable.)

    Keep up the good work. I'll get back to lurking.

    Kevin
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:01 PM
  83. This is great stuff, keep it up. I tried to think of something tacky to break up the adulation, but couldn't do it. Probably why I lurk.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:02 PM
  84. I made my way here via the World Wide Rant a month or two ago and come back every day. I enjoy your writing and like your attitude. Cheers!

    Brent
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:04 PM
  85. You've got (lurking) fans in West Virginia!
    #: Posted by binky  on  09/21  at  03:05 PM
  86. OK, I'll Bite.

    Hiya! I read your blog regularly, and am impressed by the constant work and attention you put into it. Sometimes I wonder how you find time to teach.

    I admire your blog immensely, and hope to get mine up to your level of professionalism someday.

    Anyway, I'm a telecom engineer and sometime poet who has spent a large part of his life in Asia, although I'm from Mpls. originally.

    In Japan, and Korea, and Hawaii, i've participated in science fairs and science/engineering career days, and for the last 6 years have worked with a group of kids from across asia every spring to help develop an interest and possibly careers in science.

    For the last 3 years the american kids overseas (12 to 18 y.o.) have brought up the "do you believe in evolution" question at every meeting, seminar, or career day.

    This year (2005), I returnesd to Minnesota with some medical and family problems, and my nephews and nieces (mostly athiests), began to tell me of the fundementalism here, and then the state of Kansas tried to place this superstition into texbooks. Help!!

    But you are helping, helping greatly. And please don't consider some of us Lurkers, but rather devoted readers, much like Asimov's Gentle Reader.

    Also, just a note to you. Many of my sncestors hail from Ortonville (not far from you). Being an outspoken Athiest on the prairie can be a lonely position, one I have encountered on trips home in the past. Well, many of us are pulling for you. I'll try to get to Lyle's one of these day to say hi in person.

    Leung Shu Ren. (A pen name, of course)
    #: Posted by LSR  on  09/21  at  03:05 PM
  87. Howdy, PZ -- been lurking for a few months, just haven't gotten my act together enough to comment. I'm a professional pornographer, hardcore atheist, and science geek. Keep up the great work!
    #: Posted by M.Christian  on  09/21  at  03:09 PM
  88. I check your blog every day. I'm not asking you to change anything - I like the actual science articles, too.

    Okay, one thing. You should read Karen Armstrong's A History of God, if you ever get the time. I also very much hate how the creationists and industrialists are trying to destroy science, but still I think your "atheism" is a little silly. I don't believe in God/Jesus/Allah/YHWH or any of the stuff, either. But atheism seems way too dogmatic: we lack the data.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:09 PM
  89. Hi I've been a Pharyngula fan for a long time. I'm a saxophonist and composer in New York City. I am simply someone very interested in science (astronomy and cosmology are my favorites) and I am very passionate and concerned about protecting and encouraging education of science, the scientific method and critical thinking.
    Thank you for keeping up the good fight against ID and other creationist garbage and for making current developments in biology easily available on the internet!
    Sincerely,
    Briggan Krauss

    http://briggankrauss.com
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:10 PM
  90. Hiya PZ,
    Yeah, I am lurker. Earlier, I sent you a link to a LA Times article about BTs (bible-thumpers) handing out works of fiction at some dinosaur roadside attractions. Anyway. Keep up the good fight. Me? I am a developer for a medical device company.

    All praise to the FSM!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:12 PM
  91. PZ:
    I've been dropping in nearly everyday for months. The right wing war on science drives me nuts, it brightens my day to read your critiques of their stupidity. Sorry, stupidity isn't accurate. I had an emphatic discussion of evolution (doesn't that sound nicer than argument?) not long ago with a Greek Orthodox priest who speaks half a dozen languages fluently and is quite intelligent but still believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Shall I say willfully ignorant? It amazes me how some people simply ignore all evidence that doesn't fit their preconceptions. Making the old joke "Don't confuse me with facts, my mind's made up" frustratingly accurate. Anyway keep up the good work, I'm rooting for you.

    Steve
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:13 PM
  92. Oh, yeah, lots of people send me tips and ideas in my e-mail. I used to respond to them regularly, but now that the volume has climbed to 500-1000 emails a day (legit e-mail, that doesn't count the spam that gets automatically flushed), I just can't...so if you just hear silence from me, don't take it personally, I appreciate it all, it's just that the numbers tend to swamp out the information.

    I really should set up some special e-mail addresses for suggestions and comments, so I could sort 'em out a little more easily.
    #: Posted by PZ Myers  on  09/21  at  03:17 PM
  93. Ha nice one PJ will you have time to read all the lurker hellos? I've no PhD, but two honous in Chemistry & Materials Engineering and work in the oil and gas industry. Nothing to do with biology! But I enjoy reading about it and watching the criters in the flesh immensely (going to South Africa in 2 days with the wife).
    I was directed here from a Darksyde comment on Redstate of all places, I was only there to see "how the other half think". My first blog addiction was Jerome a Paris' energy posts on Daily Kos. I'm a humanist atheist and I think we're all up shit creek without a paddle due to peak oil.
    Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...
    #: Posted by Mike Adams  on  09/21  at  03:20 PM
  94. PS Keep writing what you're writing I enjoy the mix of politics and science. Got any good hard science (physics/chemistry/engineering) blogs you can recommend?
    #: Posted by Mike Adams  on  09/21  at  03:22 PM
  95. Its been nearly a year since I've counted Pharyngula as my most-visited site (even beating out those furtive late-night "anatomy" sites - yes, you are THAT good!) Your devotion to reason and knowledge within your site is the strongest draw.

    Formerly in San Diego, I recently moved (back) to help bump Minnesota's pro-science, atheist count up. If enough of us did, think we'd ever be able to elect an atheist?
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:28 PM
  96. Guilty as charged. I love your blog as well as many other science related blogs such as PT, SCIAM Perspectives, Bad Astronomy, Cosmic Variance, et al. I really read to educate myself and usually don't have much to say since I do not share the same level of expertise. For all of you with the great science educations, keep feeding us the knowledge.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:29 PM
  97. Hiya! Lurker and recovering Minnesotan here. Ever since I found your site (via Atrios, probably), I check it every day. Keep up the good work!
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:30 PM
  98. Hey,
    I've been reading your blog daily for several months now and I love it. I'm a senior currently attending high school in Maryland. At the time that I found your blog I was feeling pretty alone (being an atheist in America is often a lonely pursuit) but seeing that there were lots of people who shared my beliefs helped me immensely.
    Thanks
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:31 PM
  99. YAL - yet another lurker. I have the fortune/misfortune of sharing a name with the founder of AOL as well as the gentleman from Kansas who's been doing yeoman work for the Darwinist cause. I'm Ab.D. in botany, so I know a litle about this subject, but I've been sitting in front of a keyboard programming computers for the last 20 years. I just have to be careful that i don't start ranting out loud while I'm at work. Keep up the writing, it's great.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:37 PM
  100. It is very difficult to add to the high level of this blog. I prefer to keep my mouth shut unless I can add something. My own background is geophysics, so it would be amusing to see how creationists would attack converging lines of evidence.
    #: Posted by  on  09/21  at  03:37 PM