Sunday, June 21, 2009

LINDSAY SELBY: Thought for the day

Does cryptozoology have a point?

Some one asked me what the point of cryptozoology is. Well my first answer is: does it need to have a point? You could just as well ask does ghost hunting, trainspotting or Morris Dancing have a point? They are all the interests of some people, no matter how comical or strange other people find them (I admit I find Morris Dancing bizarre, and who was Morris?).

However that would be facetious of me and the serious answer is yes, it does have a point. It strives to find answers to questions, to identify new or once extinct species and researches what some mainstream scientists will not or are afraid to. New species and old species are being rediscovered all the time and I give some links below, plus a list of some that we all know about.

Just because something has only been seen or heard by a few people and that others have seen fair to put out hoax photos and stories, does not make it not worth investigating. The giant Squid or Kraken was a seafaring myth until filmed underwater by Japanese scientists.

People like to believe there is something more in the world than what we see every day and most would love to find that Nessie or Bigfoot really exists; so don’t knock the people who investigate these things. Be glad they do because even if there are no answers, the fun in finding that out, one way or another, is great science by anyone’s standards.

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