I know… I’m the worst blogger ever. I’ve had several of my fans ask me when I was going to blog again… well, my mom has asked me. In the way of excuses, I’ve been really busy at work… I’ve been painting on the side… and we just moved.
So, I have to address this global warming thing. Here in Nashville it’s been really hot. I know… it’s summer, but it really has been extremely hot. On Thursday we hit 104. On days like that I hear, “Man, this global warming is getting out of hand. It’s going to be too hot to bear one day.” You’ve got to be kidding me! Now, I’m no expert. I haven’t done much research at all. But comments like that just seem to be ignorant to me. Your belief in global warming is based on the fact that it’s hot today? Well, guess what? It was 104 today, but the hottest day recorded in Nashville is 107… that was in 1987!!!
Hey, I’m not mad at you. I’m disgusted that our country is full of people who just believe anything they’re told. If you buy into the global warming thing, have you really researched it? Have you read both sides of the argument? Or do you just believe it because Al Gore said? Honestly, I haven’t researched it. I tend to lean one way, but I truly haven’t taken the time to examine the facts. In the mean time, I argue against it just because so many people give blind trust to the media and politicians. I do this… play devil’s advocate to get a rise out of adamant people. So many people become dogmatic about things they know nothing about save what they take as fact and truth from people who will do anything to get their votes in November.
Here’s the deal… it’s not just global warming. I would urge you to examine your values… examine what you know to be truth. Global warming… war… God… Christian values… etc. I’m not trying to sway you from buying into global warming. I’m trying to convince you to develop your own stance on issues and values… not what your parents told you… not what Michael Moore told you… not what Sean Hannity told you… not what your Sunday School teacher told you. Work these things out!
August 11, 2007 at 3:28 pm
You’ve asked some very pertinent questions, and put your finger on the nature of common belief. People tend to accept much of what they’re told without any real investigation of the evidence or critical appraisal of the arguments. Until a few years ago, I didn’t know much about it, and didn’t pay much attention to it. But I have indeed developed my own stance.
I’m a mathematician, and for much of my career worked at an astrophysics research center. A few years ago I found out that a “colleague of a colleague” had published a paper disputing the reality of global warming. This piqued my interest, so I decided to investigate the issue in detail. I have ready access to the scientific literature, so I went to the original sources to find out the nitty-gritty details. I’m also a specialist in the statistical analysis of time series, so I know how to “run the numbers” for myself, and I took every opportunity to acquire actual data and confirm or deny analysis results. In addition I have a strong background in physics, so I know pretty well what makes sense physically and what doesn’t.
What have I found? In a nutshell: 1. Global warming is really happening; 2. It’s caused by human activity; 3. It’s bad.
I’ve also discovered that there is a truly massive effort underway to dispute this. The tactics of this effort are frighteningly similar to the tactics used by the tobacco industry to discredit the science behind the dangers of smoking. In fact, some of the same scientists who participated in the tobacco campaign, have been enlisted in campaign to discredit global warming science.
In my opinion, there are two motives behind the campaign of misinformation. One is greed; fossil fuel (and other) business interests are attempting to block any government action which they suspect might threaten their profit margin. The other is fear: private citizens are afraid of losing the lifestyle of prosperity that we enjoy in the modern industrialized world. Conservatives also note that calls to action tend to come from the more liberal political side, which they distrust.
It seems to me that the greatest irony is this: global warming is a vastly greater threat to economic prosperity than even the most draconian measures proposed to combat it.
August 14, 2007 at 2:37 pm
That is really good stuff! I like. I like.
August 15, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Shane;
Great blog! You’re brilliant and I totally agree with everything you said except in your last paragraph…where you said don’t believe in everything your parents told you. Have you lost your mind??? Your parents wouldn’t tell you something that wasn’t true! Get it right!
Love,
Mom