Standard rule of breeding. The female should always be listed first in a cross! ...then no need to s

[HeritageGoose13]

My point is there are no exceptions and why science has no cultures and does not use common names etc.

But there ARE exceptions. Dogs, chickens, horses, snakes are all done differently. Of course this results in confusion, but who cares? Should we let all our languages go extinct just so we can all speak the same language and understand one another? No! We would lose all our poetry, our phrases and sayings, our beautiful words and names and stories, our cultures. We can't just throw all of that out in the name of science and standardization. We would gain nothing by doing that.

You can never make everything the same. You always lose something in translation.

Science as you know it is entirely a Western concept, part of Western culture. Eastern/Asian Science, Native American Science, Aboriginal Sciences, etc. are all very different. Western scientists usually call them "unscientific."

I guess the question is how do the lay people decide what they are going to do? Seems like they should try to follow the research and professionals in the field to be correct.

Who are you to decide who is a professional and who is correct?

 

[Michael OShay]

I am a retired high school science teacher, and in a perfect world everyone would use the scientific names and standardization for all living organisms (chickens, dogs, cats, whales, etc.) so that when people from different countries were sharing information they would all know exactly what living organism was being discussed. However, given human laziness, ignorance, and perhaps even memory capacity, people are not going to say "Balaenoptera musculus" when they can simply say "Blue Whale." )

 

[windyridgefarm]

Science is not poetry. if we can understand each other then we can learn from each other. Genetics has common threads. Snake people can learn from chicken research and even plant research if the people can connect. In fact all genetics started out from what was learned by a monk studying peas. Imagine if he didnt share what he learned with sheep farmers etc...That is why science and the church use Latin, because communication is knowledge and knowledge is power.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

in a perfect world everyone would use the scientific names and standardization for all living organisms (chickens, dogs, cats, whales, etc.) so that when people from different countries were sharing information they would all know exactly what living organism was being discussed. However, given human laziness, ignorance, and perhaps even memory capacity, people are not going to say "Balaenoptera musculus" when they can simply say "Blue Whale." )

No way! It has nothing to do with laziness or ignorance. To the contrary, it takes effort to learn the local and common names that different people use in different places. It is lazy to say they should all use the same term!

The arrogant idea/attitude that everyone should be "scientific" is the same one that makes so many people proudly anti-science.

 

[windyridgefarm]

That is very true and a good point if you are speaking with someone who also knows what a whale is but if they do not you might just have to look it up and use "Balaenoptera musculus" if you want them to know what you are talking about. Thank goodness the order of the parents is a more basic issue.

 

[donrae]

I for one never knew it was the accepted practice to list the female parent first in breeding chickens. My background is mostly horses, and it's always sire x dam, so that's how I've listed my crosses. Just made sense to me.....but I'll work on changing that if hen x cock is the standard terminology. No need to get angry at folks who are simply ignorant.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

That is very true and a good point if you are speaking with someone who also knows what a whale is but if they do not you might just have to look it up and use "Balaenoptera musculus" if you want them to know what you are talking about.

You could say the same thing oppositely... it would make more sense.

How many average people know what a balaenoptera musculus is? Just say blue whale and they will understand you.

 

[windyridgefarm]

I think you are misunderstanding. Not trying to say that everything has to be the same or that there is not a place for art poetry and common names But sometimes you need to have common reference point to communicate effectively. As someone who has lived in many parts of the country common names can be very confusing half the time you think you are talking about the same plant and later find out it was not even close.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

If hen then cock is the normal way of explaining poultry... fine! If someone wants to list the cock then the hen... fine!

It doesn't matter. Whatever makes that person happy. Let each person come up with their own standards.

 

[windyridgefarm]

I hope you do not think that I am angry or that I think anyone is ignorant just because they do things differently. I am more interested in learning from and teaching others. Lord knows there are many people on here here who could teach me a few things about chickens. However to learn from each other we need to have the same point of reference. The point above is that people from another country or culture may not know what blue means or whale. It may have no meaning in their language or refer to some thing different.