Three Worlds

This is a gross simplification. Each one of us forms a mental picture of the world, our worldview. The ancient Southwest Indian civilization had a different term, dreamworld.  As a conversational tip, always remember there are three worlds; yours, the other bloke’s, and the real one.

The purpose of this column is to encourage people to read more science, and watch TV and read articles on the internet with skepticism.  

The scientific method, today, gives us our best path to “know” the real world. It is not perfect, but to date, it is hands down the best method of not only knowing nature but peacefully merging dreamworlds. It can be argued that human progress and understanding moves quickest and with the least conflict when we pursue scientific understanding with our fellow humans. It sure beats reading tea leaves or bones.

Here is a little personal background. I watch little TV. The last time I spent a lot of time in front of the “tube” was when I left for the Air Force in 1969.  With one exception, when my Austrian wife wanted to learn better English via TV, I have not been hooked up to this medium of information, or disinformation, on a consistent basis.

Of course, it is impossible to avoid TV entirely. I remember when people would make a mad scramble to find a TV to catch their favorite soap opera. Occasionally, I found myself watching a soap opera and asking myself why.News in 1969, was at 6 and 10 pm. The networks put out relatively the same content. The summary of the news was wrapped up by people like Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid. These were educated distinguished men who may have errored at times but would have never deliberately lied to their audiences.

This weekend I went to my 50th high school reunion and rented a motel room.  The reunion was a shock. I recognized almost no one. The bigger shock was watching TV in the motel. The coverage of our government and the White House is now the lurid soap operas I occasionally watched years ago.

 Regarding climate science coverage, the environmental and science-based magazines I subscribe to have been critical of television media except for science focused Public TV and Radio. Except for Fox, many news outlets today are starting to cover the climate crisis. The Union of Concerned Scientists has been critical of Fox News for years so, regarding anything science, I would disregard what you hear or see on Fox.

As far as local printed news, I participate with WNBP&A and am grateful for the opportunity to bring climate news and science to you.  I follow the northern newspapers from Marquette to Ashland. Many are picking up on climate science and the moral implications of ignoring it. The New York Times and the Washington Post are reputable sources of climate information. The on-line Guardian does a great job.

The National Geographic and the Scientific American always have hard hitting science articles on climate and have had them for years.

Yesterday, I read Time’s September 23RD double issue. The thick weekly news magazine is devoted to our climate future. This is nothing new for Time. On January 2nd, 1989 they dedicated the whole issue to, “The Planet of the Year”.  The issue, 30 years ago, focused on the environmental issues challenging “Endangered Earth”.  The title today is “2050, HOW EARTH SURVIVED.”

In 2050 the sixteen-year-olds of today will know if they woke us up in time and if we gathered the moral courage to meet the climate crisis.

As noted above, there are reputable sources of news. You do not have to be glued to the flat screen watching the latest White House soap opera.

We have a sacred world ready to be explored on foot, or by book. We still have libraries with dedicated librarians.

I challenge you to develop your own dreamworld created, as best you can, by the pursuit of truth. And, I challenge you to ask me climate related questions. I learn through your questions. Thanks.     climatelynx@earthlink.net   906-285-3702

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address - 335

Lincoln gave two great speeches: the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address. His second inaugural address must have come as a surprise to most Americans. He had just won a landslide election, and the Union Armies had defeated the Confederate Insurgency. You would think he would have taken a victory lap. But the President was wrestling with God's purpose. Why had the nation, both sides, suffered so grievously? In a country of only 32 million, 650 to 750,000 soldiers had died. Lincoln believed the nation was being punished for the institution of slavery. The South for creating its wealth on the backs of the blacks, but also the North for being too slow to challenge the appalling injustice of slavery. Seven times in his short speech, Lincoln referred to the book from which he had learned to read. The book he referenced was the King James version of the Bible. Here is his speech: "Fellow countrymen: at this second appearing to take the oath of the presidenti...
Read more

Right Wing Wokeism - 344

China Must Be Thrilled Donald Trump was elected to manage borders and curb left-wing wokeism, but his right-wing wokeism—attacking electric vehicles and renewable energy because they don't fit MAGA ideology—is equally senseless and against national interests. Ironically, his own base benefits from renewables. The five states with the largest share of wind power are red states, generating at least a third of their power from wind. This is about geography, not politics. Rural America has vast solar and wind potential and is already capitalizing on it, regardless of voting patterns. More critically, Trump's "drill, baby, drill" approach at a time when artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and autonomous technology are advancing will not make America great again. Instead, it risks making China great again. Trump once boasted about sending Americans to Mars. The real question is whether a Chinese astronaut will greet them there, asking, "What took you so...
Read more

Power Corrupts - 342

A Link between Slavery & Big Oil   Noam Chomsky, one of the world's most quoted authors, expresses his opinion of the Big Oil misinformation campaign: "I don't know what word in the language—I can't find one—that applies to people of that kind, who are willing to sacrifice the existence of organized human life, not in the distant future, so they can put a few more dollars in highly overstuffed pockets. The word 'evil' doesn't begin to approach it." Was there another time in US history when evil ruled?  Let's look at the United States before the Civil War. In the South, there were 4 million enslaved people. The slaves, or their parents, or grandparents, or someone in their lineage had been kidnapped, shackled, and shipped to the Americas to spend their lives with no freedom whatsoever. This criminal operation started in 1619 and accelerated until the Union forces ended it. The black humans had no rights and were conveniently labeled as les...
Read more