Big Hollwood? Bad Hollywood! Bad Blog!

Recently I came across a blog post by Adam Baldwin (actor in the awesome, now defunct show Firefly) on the Big Hollywood blog.

Briefly, the blog targets a high school teacher on charges of propaganda and indoctrination of his students with the idea that global warming is caused by human activity.

In support of his attack on Benjamin Kay the science teacher, Baldwin has linked to various sites with so-called evidence that there is not a consensus among scientists regarding the claim that global warming is caused by humans. In fact, Baldwin has focused on the following statement made by Mr. Kay and casually tossed it off as false.

“There’s an actual statistic that 99% of all scientists agree that humans are exacerbating global climate change…”

The result is that his post has fueled the belief of the so-called “climate deniers”. You can see the long list of comments praising Baldwin for exposing this terrible deed and maligning the state of education today that could allow this to happen.

The problem is that all this is all untrue and is itself part of an elaborate propaganda scheme. The attack on the science teacher is unfair and the so-called facts that Baldwin uses to support his claims are flimsy and don’t hold up to scrutiny.

In response to the various claims that there is not a consensus among scientists, researchers have conducted surveys of scientific opinion and literature to ascertain objective data on whether or not this is true. Most recently, researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago have published a paper and survey results. (also see the publishers website and abstract.) In response to the question on whether human activity is a significant contributor to global warming, 80% of all scientist agreed and among climatologists who are active in climate research, that number jumped to 97.4%. In other words, 97.4% of the scientific experts on this topic believe that humans are exacerbating global warming.

OK, Mr. Kay is not completely accurate that there is a 99% consensus among ALL scientist. However, the accusation that Mr. Kay is indoctrinating his students with false propaganda is unfair and not true. While he may oversimplify some facts and data, the overall gist of his message is not wrong. Furthermore, it’s completely unrealistic to expect high school students to truly understand and criticize the actual science of global warming. To do that requires years of advanced study, commonly known as graduate work.

(Oh, the irony, the hypocrisy! that people who themselves have little understanding of science and do not bother to educate themselves, would raise a stink over a high school class glossing over the extensive and complicated details of climate research!)

Now it is true that there are skeptics in the scientific community and I do not wish to overlook this fact. This is a good thing. A healthy dialogue in the scientific community is needed. Good science is constantly experimenting and learning about the world. As new information is brought to light, views are changed, theories are modified, etc, etc. That is not the problem. The problem is the manipulation of public perception for political and economic gain.

This has been documented several times and yet it is still going on. (See 2006 Vanity Fair article.)

If you want to talk conspiracy stories. Lets talk.

A conservative think tank long funded by ExxonMobil [snip] had offered scientists $10,000 to write articles undercutting the new report [on impeding disaster of global warming] and the computer-based climate models it is based on.

From a 2007 Newsweek article

Look. Would you consult a computer programmer about your health problems? How about an insurance adjuster? So, why is it that plenty of folks believe ExxonMobil, PR firms and the conservative think-tanks, and yet refuse to believe the scientific experts? (I have my own answer on that, btw.)

Whether you like it or not, the the reigning view among scientists is that yes, global warming is real, yes, it is a problem and yes, it is exacerbated by human activity. If you want to prove them wrong, then be my guest. Start your own experiments. Publish your data. Please! Do something. Do not, however, repeat ignorant propaganda. Do not make unfair attacks on science teachers who are just following their conscience, trying to do the right thing. There is enough misinformation out there and it’s downright shameful. It ought to be everyone’s ethical duty to avoid propagating lies, and if you don’t know, then find out.

How reliable is memory?

Troy Anthony Davis, a former sports coach from the U.S. state of Georgia, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the August 19, 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail solely on the basis of eyewitness testimonies. No physical evidence linked him to the murder, and the weapon used in the crime was never found.
–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Anthony_Davis

AS it turns out, 7 out of 9 of those witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony. (on a side note, if you are interested you can go here to learn more and sign a petition about this. )

Is eyewitness testimony enough evidence to send someone to their death?

How good is your memory? (ok, this guy is a bit cheesy, but he makes a good point…) Watch this video and play the memory game they do. Play the game as you watch. You can’t play after you watch the video.

So, how prevalent are false memories? How often do they occur? Well ultimately it depends on the situation and whether or not you were lead into it. However…

On July 7, 2005, London experienced a series of bombings. A follow-up study found that 4 out of 10 people have false memories of the event because they claimed to have seen nonexistent television footage.
–http://health.howstuffworks.com/5-brain-mysteries.htm

CLick here to see the research article about that study.

Also, here is an easy to read science article reviewing all the recent research findings on false memory.

It’s just too easy to delude yourself.

Don’t Worry (part II)

This is a follow up to a brief post Don’t Worry – Luke 12:22-34

Stress is a common fixture in the modern world, especially in times of economic uncertainty. In certain situations stress can be positive, however, usually it’s not. Stress can be a hindrance to your health and your mental clarity. In extreme cases, stress can result in serious, long-term health problems.

So… what’s a person to do? There are several strategies to dealing with stress. My personal favorite is meditation. Of course, meditation has much loftier goals of which stress reduction is merely a side affect. Exercise is also a great option with plenty of additional health benefits.

This article makes a good point about reducing your stress by evaluating the sources of your stress and your ability to influence those sources. In other words, if you cannot do anything to change the situation, perhaps you can change how you feel and react to the situation. What you stress about reveals some of the underlying assumptions about what you feel is important in the world. In a sense, you choose what to be stressed out by and how severe that stress it.

Take for a example, an exam for an important college (or even high school) class. You want to do well, and who knows, it may have a significant impact on your future. However, the more you stress out about it, the less likely you are to perform at your best. Stress can reduce your ability to focus via mental fatigue as well as by crowding your mind with negative thoughts. (See this list of common symptoms caused by stress.) At a certain point, you are better off caring a little less about the test, the class and your future, if only temporarily, for the sake of your performance. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

For a more spiritual approach to stress, see this article in which Jesus reveals that if your heart is in the right place, then you have nothing to stress about. This is particularly poignant, as, I’m willing to bet, the most common sources of great stress are imposed upon us through social factors. The desire for success, material possessions, power, or influence is prevalent in our society, and yet, is ultimately a futile goal, and not at all important in the context of Jesus’s message.

So do yourself a favor, think about what stresses you out, and ask yourself, is it really worth the suffering?

The Power of Your Mind: What you believe can hurt you

Here’s an interesting article that demonstrates the power of belief: The science of voodoo: When mind attacks body.

Are you Open-Minded?

I’m always frustrated with climate change deniers and others who have an anti-science, anti-education perspective. Here’s a great video presentation which lays out a very good argument for why it’s silly to be anti-science.

It makes me feel neurotic

I am fascinated by human behavior, especially the irrational, contradictory behavior. I see it in myself and it bothers me. I know that others are also irrational and contradictory, but it’s hard to tell how unsettled they are about it. Perhaps some don’t even care. In this vein, I’m following up on my previous post The Truth Doesn’t Matter.

To recap, the ideological perspective that you hold influences what you see to the point that reality is (at least partly) obscured.

I think we do this for various reasons.

1) It takes a lot of work to construct a unified vision of the world. Once it’s in place, you don’t really want to change it around too much.

2) People are uncomfortable with uncertainty. I can relate.

3) Having to change your mind every time you sit down to watch the news, not only requires work to unify all the contradictory elements, but it also implies that you were wrong. No one likes to be wrong. It suggests that you’re stupid.

4) Information overload. There is so much “information” out there coming at you from all directions, a veritable bombardment. There is no way for you to research every little thing that some talking head spouts off.

5) misinformation. And consequently, there is so much BS out there, that yes, you can find support for any wacky conspiracy theory you want to believe in.

6) We are lazy. With all the things you could be wasting your time with, who could be so anal as to go research and confirm every little opinion or thought that occurs to you? It’s very time consuming. (Yes, that an admission of sorts.)

And this brings me to cognitive dissonance. Having heard the term “cognitive dissonance” batted around for some time, I decided I should actually try to learn a little more about it.

In short cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling you get when you have two contradictory thoughts, images or ideas. This article explains it very well using the example of “I like ice cream” and “I want to lose weight”. Essentially, the feeling of discomfort is very strong and as a consequence, we attempt to avoid it using a variety of means.

The whole concept is very interesting and insightful. A lot of irrational, emotional, and addictive behavior can thus be explained, and this also ties in to the “Truth doesn’t matter” piece. One of the strategies used to reduce or eliminate cognitive dissonance is to ignore information that contradicts the things we find most important.

We all experience cognitive dissonance and probably many times per day, but how aware of it are you? How do you deal with it? I’ve noticed it in myself for a long time now, and it nice to have a proper name for it, but being aware that it’s happening isn’t a panacea. it does not resolve the conflict. Most of the time it makes me feel neurotic, and out of control.

Don’t Worry – Luke 12:22-34

The things that you worry and stress about can be quite revealing if you take the time to consider it. Do you worry about your investments? your job? your house? These are trying times. And these do seem like more noble, responsible things to worry about than say your hair, or your child’s fashion. But what is your job, your house to God? What do these things matter to the dead?

I like that quote attributed to Gandhi… “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

That sums it up for me. I would never call myself a Christian, because I do no like the institution it has become. However, I would call myself a Christ-follower.

That said, here’s a great article called “Don’t Worry” that discusses Luke 12:22-34. And this is a timely message for me in particular with all the stress I have in my life right now. It really drives home the point that my heart is not in the right place.

The energy cost of eating

Like any other animal or plant on the planet, we are a link on the food chain. One way of looking at the food chain is in terms of energy. Plants get energy from the sun. Animals get energy from other plants and animals, etc. Well, it turns out plants are more efficient at acquiring energy than organisms higher up on the food chain. The higher up you go, the less energy efficiency there is.

But, when we consider humans, there is another layer to the story. We do not go out into the bush, make a kill and begin feasting. The process of creating, storing, and transporting our food significantly adds to the energy required to eat the food on our kitchen tables.

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating meat as much as the next guy, but the truth is… eating meat is a gigantic waste of energy, and a major drain on vital resources.

To give you an idea, here’s an interesting article which frames the food energy around the debate of paper vs plastic. IN other words what decisions can you make in your lifestyle choices that will have the most impact on saving energy and resources?

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Also, see an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, discussing some of the problems with the livestock industry

The truth doesn’t matter

Most people have enough self awareness to recognize and admit that they have an ideological perspective, that is, a particular viewpoint of the world around them, and in fact, believe that this viewpoint has been crafted and developed through their observations of the world. However, most people do not seem to realize that their viewpoint is, in actuality, influencing and obscuring their view of the world.

Two studies have shown that people tend to ignore facts when those facts challenge their ideological perspective and also that people tend to believe false information when it conforms to their position. See the ars technica article where I found these studies. You can find links to the studies as well. The studies limited their focus to political beliefs, but I think it’s not too much of a stretch to expand that and assume it applies to all beliefs.

The implications of these finds are incredible.

First of all, it means that some people really cannot be argued with. It does not matter how sensible the argument, some people will hold on to their viewpoint, regardless. I think we’ve all encountered people like that.

Second, essentially people believe what they want to believe, and therefore, they aren’t seeing reality. Reality is twisted to fit into their idea of what reality should be, or else, it is simply ignored.

Third, this explains, in part, why so many politicians are so shallow. If the public hears a false rumor that they want to believe, they will believe it. Therefore the politician really has no incentive to conform to reality. Truth and deception have no bearing on his livelihood, he only needs to be the proud owner a favorable perception.

In short, the truth doesn’t matter.

There are quite a few extreme examples that can found with a cursory glance. I think most of us can agree that the Earth is not flat, and yet there are still those that believe exactly that. See The Flat Earth Society. And of course, conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen, as are fundamentalist religions. There are the Holocaust deniers, and my new favorite, the global warming deniers.

So… why should this be? My hunch is that people cannot deal with uncertainty. If you must re-evaluate your position on the world every time you sit down to watch the news, you’d quickly see that you don’t know much at all and you’d quickly tire of your own flip-flops. And no one likes to feel stupid and ignorant. Oh, the irony!

It takes a lot of work to construct your position and once in place, it sort of functions as a short cut. Instead of thinking deeply about this issue or that, people refer back to their own biases and prejudices and come to the fastest, least boat-rocking conclusion possible.

The imagination as natural resource

artist's rendering of Shangri-La

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, “Shangri-La” is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia—a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world.
–Wikipedia

Hilton is said to have taken his inspiration for Shangri-La in part from the writings of the eccentric botanist Joseph Rock, whose tales of exploration and adventure in remote Yunnan, Tibet, and elsewhere appeared in this magazine from 1922 to 1935.
–National Geographic Magazine

Originally, Shangri-La was a mythical place, but today Shangri-La is a bustling tourist town way out in the Chinese boonies. Ten year ago, this town was a derelict village, but they changed its name to “Shangri-La” and now it has growth, economy, an airport even.

While anyone who fell in love with Hilton’s Shangri-La will be sorely disappointed in the actual Shangri-La, the fact of the matter is, its now an opportunity for backwoods Chinese to raise their standard of living.

And isn’t this the fate of all our mythical places and beings? The imagined, the ideal, the mysterious after attaining some special place in the collective unconscious is turned into an economic opportunity. And while that opportunity may helpful to many people, it somehow cheapens the ideal, it ruins it. What happens then? Is the imagined still profitable? It’s almost like any other natural resource…