psychopath

psychopath

Dr. Eric R. Pianka of the University of Texas is a psychopath. That is not hyperbole.

I first read about Pianka a couple of days ago at Back Off Government and small dead animals. Then I decided to go digging a little further.

Recently at a meeting of the Texas Academy of Science, Pianka gave a speech advocating the extermination of 90% of humanity through the use of airborne Ebola.

Forrest M. Mims III was at the speech and had this to say about the speech:

Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures. Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.

...After praising the Ebola virus for its efficiency at killing, Pianka paused, leaned over the lectern, looked at us and carefully said, "We've got airborne 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing humans. Think about that."

Now, Forrest Mims is no crank. Aside from writing over 60 books on electronics (which have sold more than 7.5 million copies, and are available in every Radio Shack) - something which requires a great deal of precision in thought - he is also the Chairman of the Environmental Sciences section of the Texas Academy of Science. He's no Luddite, and he obviously knows a thing or two about environmental sciences if he holds that chairmanship, so his word carries a bit of weight. He didn't like what Pianka had to say one little bit. However, he wasn't the only one at that meeting who commented on Pianka's speech. Brenna McConnell at Serenity had this to say:

While what he had to say is way too vast to remember it all, moreover to relay it here in this blog, the bulk of his talk was that he's waiting for the virus that will eventually arise and kill off 90% of human population. In fact, his hope, if you can call it that, is that the ebola virus which attacks humans currently (but only through blood transmission) will mutate with the ebola virus that attacks monkeys airborne to create an airborne ebola virus that attacks humans. He's a radical thinker, that one! I mean, he's basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population! And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he's right.

OK, so we have two points of view here; Mims disagrees with what Pianka said, Brenna agrees with Pianka, but both Mims and Brenna agree on what it was that Pianka said. This contrasts sharply with Pianka's denial that he advocated genocide:

Pianka says he would never advocate genocide or extermination like some suggest he does.

"I've got two granddaughters, man. I'm putting money in a college fund for my granddaughters. I'm worried about them," Pianka said.

OK, so what's the truth here? Is it merely the case that some kind of professional rivalry exists between Mims and Pianka? Well then, if that is the case then Brenna (who published her blog post three weeks before Mims' editorial) is in on it with Mims, even though she states that she agrees with Pianka.

So is Pianka telling the truth in his denial? Let's have a look at some comments from some of Pianka's students, in the Fall 2004 course evaluations:

"I don't root for ebola, but maybe a ban on having more than one child. I agree . . . too many people ruining this planet."

"Though I agree that convervation biology is of utmost importance to the world, I do not think that preaching that 90% of the human population should die of ebola is the most effective means of encouraging conservation awareness. I found Pianka to be knowledgable, but spent too much time focusing on his specific research and personal views."

This is damning. Not only has Pianka advocated the deaths of 90% of humanity via Ebola, he has done so for years.

Contrary to what Panda's Thumb says, Pianka's denial did not "debunk the whole thing". His denial is a bald-faced lie.

Pianka advocating the horrible death of 5.8 billion people is consistent with something that Robert Bidinotto wrote about the enivironmentalist movement:

Ask yourself the following question: Where is there a place for humans and their works in a world where pristine nature is deemed ideal, and the productive use of nature for human gain is deemed immoral?

In essence, environmentalists are attacking our very right to live, period. That position permits no compromise. To concede an inch of ground to it is to surrender, in principle, the entire battle for our lives, well-being, and happiness.

Pianka was born in 1939, which puts him at age 67 or 68 today. It is high time that the University of Texas revoked tenure for this psychopath. If I had university-age children I sure wouldn't want this nutbar teaching them.

Update: Luboš Motl has way more, including stories by the CBC, CNN, ABC news, and many others.

Technorati Tags: Environmentalism, Moonbats, Pianka, Education, Ebola