In a message dated 7/30/2007 5:47:43 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, jchorley@gmail.com writes: We certainly have made progress in educating the masses over the past 400 years-- I don't think there's anyone out there who still thinks the earth is flat or that the sun revolves around us. I'm a little more persuaded by some of Chuck's arguments. Something I think I've observed is that while many of us of all ages are smart when it comes to consuming technology such as ipods, etc. but we don't seem so different from our counterparts of 400 years ago in other ways such as superstitions and adhering to questionable beliefs. (From individuals to nations we certainly haven't progressed all that far beyond the reasons for waging wars with one another.) I'm interested in another facet of the Ask Marilyn column and the questions she chooses to answer and publish. I'm a little disappointed that she insinuated the questions were too silly to bother with. I personally think correct answers to those funny (astronomy-related) questions could sometimes be more interesting and far-reaching than the answers to some other questions like which game-show door I should really choose. Personally, I find the answers to questions such as whether food tastes the same to everybody, or whether everybody sees the same colors identically as being much more interesting and thought-provoking than those that deal with odds and statistical analyses. But then again maybe the subjects are really related in the end. I wonder if the people who asked the funny questions got their answers somewhere else, or whether they eventually stopped asking questions altogether. I hope not. Mike Bailey ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour