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Tigers have good endurance?
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 (08-01-2019, 10:19 AM)GuateGojira Wrote:(07-30-2019, 11:33 AM)Shadow Wrote: And in this area I don´t think, that Thapar is an expert and his competence can and should be questioned if he alone claims something like that ON THE ART OF DEBATING AND HOW TO GET TO A BIT OF KNOWLEDGE A disappointing contribution in more than one respect, Guate. Again. Here's why (from the top down). 1 - Questioning the competence of authorities Asking questions is one of the fundamentals of democracy. It's also, by a margin, the best way to evaluate knowledge and improve in that department. Especially when authorities are involved, as they have a big impact. Shadow is a mod. He asked a legitimate question about the speed of tigers when he read something that could have been a result of an error, a typo or an outright mistake. The reason is he wants to prevent confusion on the speed of tigers. This is what a mod should do. 2 - Questioning statements of authorities is different from dismissing them Ullas Karanth, loaded with experience and knowledge, is an undisputed tiger authority. People like him made sure we still have tigers. But authorities usually are authorities in some departments, not others. If they enter unknown territory, mistakes could take over. As a result of the stature of authorities, mistakes can have an effect, especially when they enter publications. Valmik Thapar also is an undisputed tiger expert. His statement regarding the speed of tigers, as Shadow pointed out, could have been the result of a kind of guesstimate or a typo. The reason is tigers do not reach speeds of 60 miles an hour. My guess is Shadow could be right. That, however, doesn't mean Thapar, assuming his statement on tiger speed wasn't a result of a misprint, is an amateur. He, like Ullas karanth, still is one of the leading tiger experts and that will never change. 3 - Indirectly addressing (one of) the co-owners of the forum where mods ask legitimate questions Is not a good idea, especially when you just had a narrow escape. The owners of Wildfact are interested in the natural world. They said they will focus on good information and that's what they do. Authorities publish peer-reviewed articles, but they also are involved in other publications. Some of these can have statements of a rather dubious nature. This means they need to be discussed. Asking questions always is a good start. Apparently, you disagree with this policy. The remark on double standards in this respect also wasn't appreciated. Two points deducted. 4 - Authority I noticed you have a somewhat peculiar attitude regarding authorities. You almost revere some, but severely question others. In the end, as we have seen, this policy can only result in black and white images and heroes and villains. I also noticed you tend to be wary when well-spoken posters focus on your posts. When WaveRiders joined the forum and selected some of your contributions, you apparently didn't see he was ridiculing your contributions. I did, concluded it was a bad start and decided to intervene right away. My advice is to change your policy on experts, statements, colours and conclusions. There are no heroes and villains. Some specialists are real good at what they do, but specialisation usually comes at a cost (referring to blind spots). Generalists, on the other hand, often stay away from mistakes, but lack the expertise needed to get to sound conclusions. What I'm saying is most people have a bit of both. 5 - Sankhala I didn't see anything new in your very long post on Sankhala in the tiger thread after the debate on dholes, tigers, observations and conclusions. In my eyes, your post was a somewhat indirect route to a kind of apology and it was accepted. It was accepted because it underlined you knew you had crossed a line. As it must have been hard to get to a kind of explanation, your attempt was appreciated. I proposed to move on. Apparently, the message eluded you. When you was questioned again, Sankhala immediately entered the debate. 6 - Big cat speed Over the years, I saw a lot of documentaries about big cats. In some of them, tigers and other big cats performed in the department of speed. Lionesses and tigresses can be very fast when the distance covered is less than, say, 100 meters, but I was most impressed by male tiger Abu (also known as Genghis, I think). More than once, he, in spite of his bulk, was able to surprise sambars in the shallow lake. I have no clue as to the speed he reached, but my guess is Abu might have reached 55-60 kph, meaby even a bit more. In some of the facilities I visited, I saw cheetahs run from up close. I also played with young big cats (tigers and lions) when I visited trainers in circuses. Big cats (lions, tigers, jaguars and leopards) can be very fast and agile, but cheetahs, speedwise, are in a league of their own. More than once, I saw documentaries in which their speed was checked. At times, they used cars and at times their used the time they needed to cover a shortish distance to get to an estimate. The conclusion was that cheetahs can reach 90-110 kph. Even more impressive was the acceleration. 7 - The debate on speed For now, I assume the 60 that started the debate was 60 kph, and not 60 mph. But the debate isn't about speed. It is about the result of a legitimate question in that this question , again, developed into something we want to avoid over here. I again had to invest time to write this post, Guate. Because you again mistook a mosquito for an elephant. This for a man who graduated in business-administration. Disappointing, to put it mildly. The time to change a few things has arrived. My advice is no more heroes, villains and questions and responses that result in a non-productive exchange from now on. Learn how to deal with criticism, stay away from absolutes and explosions, focus on good information and stay away from time-consuming debates about zilch. |
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