People saying "researchers should just buy it if they want it" have no idea how ridiculous that sounds, do they? Where did all the money in fossil research suddenly come from?
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Baby T rex fossil goes on sale on eBay, sparking paleontologists' outcry
- Thread starter Sqrt
- Start date
Prioritizing scientific research and gaining a greater understanding of our planet's history over making bank has something to do with being progressive yes.
I don't have time to address each and every single one of the ignorant comments on this thread.
1. Alan Detrich did NOT discover this specimen. It was his brother Robert Detrich.
2. Alan and Robert already sold a Tyrannosaurus specimen years ago for millions of dollars. That specimen is now lost to science because it can't be studied.
3. Robert was given two years to sell it to a museum. No museum could afford the price. The specimen goes up on loan to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum while Rob tries to find a museum to buy it.
4. Robert was given 2 years to sell it, since he couldn't, Alan decides to fuck over the museum and his brother by using the museum display, and publicity to sell the specimen on eBay. He also used the museum to inflate the price of the fossil.
5. Research takes year to do. Someone is already writing a paper on it. However, if a paper comes out and the specimen is sold, the paper becomes USELESS because no one else can recheck, remeasure, and reanalyze it. Specimens are checked and rechecked all the time due to new discoveries and old mistakes. So this sale also destroyed the researcher's hard work in writing this up.
6. Alan Detrich is an unpleasant person from what I've been told and back stabbed his brother. This latest stunt made his brother retire from fossil hunting.
Godbless you for this.
for real - that price, and shipping too?! make that shit free/insured or only local pickup, geez
After considering that this is currently the only known specimen of its kind in the world, along with the fact that anyone owning it just for the prestige doesn't really benefit from having the original on display rather than a replica, I do wonder who would buy this with no intention of doing any research on it.
It's not your bank account at play here.
But this is the quintessential mindset that folks talk about when explaining why progressivism struggles in American (though I'm sure it could apply to other Western Countries now too): because folks see themselves as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
Seriously, people overestimate how much money is accessible to the general heritage sector. Even when the money is technically there, for organisations of that scale it's usually behind the purse strings of a board or a committee you'd have to convince of the purchase. 3 million is a lot at this kind of scale; you could refurbish whole facilities, invest in more staff, etc. So it's not exactly easy to get someone to cough up the cash, but per Cow Mengde on the previous page, there might not have even been the money there to begin with.
Also, for those wanting a bit more sourcing on said post, you can find Robert Detrich on Facebook easily enough, and here's his posts on the matter:
https://www.facebook.com/bob.detrich/posts/2091637180871843
https://www.facebook.com/bob.detrich/posts/2093174397384788
https://www.facebook.com/bob.detrich/posts/2094570143911880
yea but this is literally the one case where you can become a millionaire
Obviously if everyone was altruistic that would be awesome, but I feel like if you dug up a few million in artifacts you would be very hard pressed to look at the potential money someone was offering you and turn it down. This is life changing money, and people only live once
But it's not you. You're arguing against something because you dream of it being you.
And if you read Cow Mengde 's post this is not even a story of some poor person striking Jurassic gold
It should be a law that these things are not to be private property
I wouldn't disagree with that, but I'm more talking about the current argument of the idea of it being private property and selling it for a great deal of money, and if people in this thread would actually have the ethical backbone to back up their words with actions while someone slams down a suitcase full of money
The vast majority of posts here aren't calling out the guy for doing that, they're calling out the laws that make it possible.
Obviously he did the natural thing most people would do, but that's not really the point is it ?
In a society that gives a fuck about science and understanding, it's base level logic that this shouldn't be allowed.
Sucks for the guy. He must be pissed in those posts. They're a rambling mess.
Bless the cao cao.I don't have time to address each and every single one of the ignorant comments on this thread.
1. Alan Detrich did NOT discover this specimen. It was his brother Robert Detrich.
2. Alan and Robert already sold a Tyrannosaurus specimen years ago for millions of dollars. That specimen is now lost to science because it can't be studied.
3. Robert was given two years to sell it to a museum. No museum could afford the price. The specimen goes up on loan to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum while Rob tries to find a museum to buy it.
4. Robert was given 2 years to sell it, since he couldn't, Alan decides to fuck over the museum and his brother by using the museum display, and publicity to sell the specimen on eBay. He also used the museum to inflate the price of the fossil.
5. Research takes year to do. Someone is already writing a paper on it. However, if a paper comes out and the specimen is sold, the paper becomes USELESS because no one else can recheck, remeasure, and reanalyze it. Specimens are checked and rechecked all the time due to new discoveries and old mistakes. So this sale also destroyed the researcher's hard work in writing this up.
6. Alan Detrich is an unpleasant person from what I've been told and back stabbed his brother. This latest stunt made his brother retire from fossil hunting.
Not at all. I'd be incredibly angry in his situation too. I wonder what allows one brother to do something without the other??
My brother and I own land in another state (inheritance) and we can't do jack without the other signing off.
Please read before commenting. He didn't find it. He went behind his brother's back, used a museum to boost sales price, and ruined a piece of research all for the sake of money.
Anyone saying they have no problem with this is anti-science. Straight up. You don't get to claim you support science and then say shit like this is fine.
This fossil is part of our shared natural history, and the idea any one person or group can or does own it is ridiculous.
All property is theft, but stuff like this is particularly egregious.
All property is theft, but stuff like this is particularly egregious.