Confusion

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I really don't feel confused.  I was attracted to science from an early age, reading Willy Ley books on how the moon landing would go in the future and Golden Books on the planets of the Solar System before the end of my third grade year.  I began college as a Physics Major and became a science teacher in the public schools on undergraduate graduation.  I studied Social Psychology in graduate school and completed a second degree in Computer Science.  I worked for over 35 years as a programmer slicing, dicing and analyzing data.  So ... the situation with Covid-19 and with the social upheaval of our times in America I don't find confusing, for it all has logical connections and is actually predictable as more data is gathered and analysis is done.  It only requires patience and study as information is developed as is always the path with science.

Unfortunately, not all my mates in America follow a similar path, for this is an age of political forces being applied against scientific understanding, undermining trust.  Medical experts are clear and of course changing some aspects of advice as knowledge is developed, but what they are discovering runs afoul of the dingbat we have in the Oval Office.  He is the leader who actually said that stealth bomber and fighter planes are invisible to another plane even if they are side-by-side in the air.  He is the leader who let the American people know that windmills cause cancer.  He is the leader who paid someone else to take his SAT.  He has no clue about anything scientific or technological except that he knows it gets in the way of what he wants to do.  His followers believe him.  His followers have no choice but to be confused, for he is incoherent in his views.

He is not the only one who does not believe in facts, but is instead much more in love with prejudice.


So ... prejudice and bigotry is very attractive to the person who just can't stand the "contradictory statements of science" as they view it.  Science involves a humble approach to knowledge and is always prone to self correction in the face of rigorously gathered evidence.  To the mind prone to propaganda, that change of understanding shows weakness and vacillation.  Indeed, it becomes evidence of lies, for there are others like William T. Thompson to tell them with no equivocation how things really are.

I don't rely on science for everything.  I enjoy creative, free form speculation on matters in my mind.  I love to chew the fat with my friends with a nice glass of wine to encourage me to say all kinds of speculative things I can't fully back.  I love to contemplate what a God behind such a marvelous universe would be like and know there is no scientific path to my contemplations.

So, I really enjoy not being scientific at all.  But I know the boundaries and I know when I am just fabricating and playing, when I am being creative in an unfettered manner.  Thus, I know when, where and how to return to science in its proper realm.  Because of this, I don't suffer the same malady as my fellow citizens often complaining that the news from the government is confusing.  I know what information sources are relevant and factually vetted and what is for show or gain.  The government is not confusing me, it is disappointing me.

Please check out my other blog mates' takes on the same topic brought to us by Ramana at their blogs, Padmum, Raju, Ramana, Sanjana and Shackman!

Comments

  1. Shackman July 9, 2020 at 2:35 PM

    Well we are clearly on the same page but we used different ink LOL. I too prefer and revere the scientific approach and I despise the lies from the top that sent us down the wrong road pm Covid-19, school opening, business opening, and oh hell - just about everything that comes from the mouth of 45.

    I do depart a bit on the old stars and bars - from the time I watched the Gray Ghost on TV as a id in Colorado I thought tht was a very cool looking flag. Still do in fact BUT its gotta go since it stands for one of the darkest times in our history. Damn - I even liked those gray uniforms- guess I was something of a contrarian as a kid. I still support college football teams that have cool looking uniforms LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Old FossilJuly 9, 2020 at 3:45 PM

      No, it is definitely a cool looking flag and I grew up liking so much of that corrupt culture, because for us white kids it had a great style. But, just like Pleasure Island, the truth under the surface is oh so ugly.

      Delete
  2. VikiJuly 9, 2020 at 6:54 PM

    I love this piece. That's the part that they aren't getting . . . that science is not static, it is ever evolving. You said it so well!

    ReplyDelete
  3. RhondaJuly 9, 2020 at 7:05 PM

    Unfortunately, as history shows, this country has a long history of distrusting science, even to the point of a proud political party named the "Know-Nothings" after the Civil War. "The new party was populist and highly democratic, hostile to wealth, elites and to expertise and deeply suspicious of outsiders, especially Catholics. " Too many people want the "certainty" of the pedagogue rather than the qualified statements of science. Actually, that statement reminds me of what Alan Watts said about belief rather than faith in the field of religion. But that's a whole 'nother barrel of monkeys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Old FossilJuly 9, 2020 at 7:09 PM

      Excellent points! I had forgotten the know-nothings.

      Delete
  4. UrsulaJuly 9, 2020 at 8:13 PM

    Science is a nuisance if it doesn't fit the agenda. Let's face it, not that the likes of T Rex 45 do, you can't argue with science. Science equals facts, not bendy fudge. How inconvenient.

    However, and maybe old hat, let me know what you think about a conundrum that has fascinated me ever since I learnt about it: The Oppenheimer Effect. Oppenheimer, "father of the atom bomb". What humankind (indeed politics) does with a scientist's "discovery" is not the scientist's responsibility, don't you think?

    On a personal note: Intriguing to learn about some of your background.

    As to chewing the fat over a glass of wine: Cheers, Sante, Prost, to your wellbeing (Auf Dein Wohl),
    U



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Old FossilJuly 9, 2020 at 8:50 PM

      Ursula, the responsibility of the scientist for social outcome is a bit troubling for me. Einstein was very upset about what was done with the realization of energy/mass equivalence and the development of the bomb. However, could he or anyone else have realistically stopped it?

      The problem is that the scientist is also a human. They must feel torn to the extent they discover something with destructive potential. I have no easy answer.

      But, to you, danke and prost as I lift my glass to you!

      Delete
  5. Ramana RajgopaulJuly 10, 2020 at 5:20 AM

    Wow Fossil. Very impressive. You have a wider vision than mine and that reflects in both our posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Old FossilJuly 10, 2020 at 9:04 AM

      I think my vision and yours right now are being fired by different social experiences. Chuck and I are in the middle of true insanity from the top. It makes us aware every day.

      Delete
  6. padmumJuly 11, 2020 at 11:24 PM

    Great post! As we are caught in this mire of politics, pestilence and power, we can only work within our own boundaries to create some kind of order. As you say, the ramifications of what is happening "from your top" is creating ripples worldwide and we cannot get away from this.

    ReplyDelete
  7. RhondaJuly 14, 2020 at 12:42 PM

    BTW, I don't know why I always show up as Unknown. Rhonda

    ReplyDelete

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