Intelligent design, this forum, and me

Shard · August 4, 2024

I used to post regularly this forum - a dozen years or so ago. Then I took a break, because I got really busy.

I mainly posted in the genny (now the swanny), and one of the discussions I was heavily involved in was the Intelligent Design thread, where I spent many hours arguing with 4pool. A few of you arl arses may even remember that thread

It was an interesting discussion for me. I had studied Biology (Genetics) at Uni, but then moved into IT and programming/software design for a living.

This long and drawn out and (let's be honest, utterly fruitless) argument with an ignorant blert from Texas ended up causing an unanticipated side effect.

The huge amount of time and effort I spent digging out the science and presenting it to this blinkered, brainwashed individual could have been a complete and utter waste of time (and indeed it was, in terms of convincing him of anything!) but it turns out that actually - it wasn't.

Because - firstly embers got stirred, and then a fire got lit. I joined a science education group, and we successfully made sure that this ID nonsense would never reach the national curriculum.

Then, an opportunity came my way to join a startup company that was doing bioinformatics - the software analysis of genetic data - basically a match made in heaven of my studies and my career.

So I joined up, and a few years later I ended up running the company as we moved into medical diagnostics. It went pretty well.

I then started my own medical diagnostics company, which also went well.

I have now helped hundreds of thousands of patients receive vastly improved care.

A happy side effect is that I'm also financially sorted for life, as are my kids.

I honestly believe that none of this would have happened without one particular ignorant blert, on this very forum. It changed the course of my life and indirectly impacted thousands of others.

So the next time you get frustrated with an ignorant twit on a football forum - please take a moment! You never know where it might take you.

drdooom · August 4, 2024