Every year many of us enjoy a few morbid chuckles when winners of the prestigious Darwin Awards become known. As a rule these are stories of folks doing incredibly stupid things that result in their death - thus removing themselves and distilling the human gene pool. If tombstones were printed with one's last words, you'd be amazed at how many would read "Hey fellas, watch this!" or "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
It is the non-fatal acts of stupidity that concern me the most - the ones that require heroic rescues and government disaster relief to overcome. Like the folks who build their ground-level homes on the perennial flood plains of major rivers - not the "100 year" flood plain, the just-over-the-levee flat fertile plains that are there because of the rich mud deposited during (you guessed it) FLOODS. These are the folks who tearfully tell reporters that they lost everything, then they seek disaster relief funds so they can clean up and REBUILD!!!
Every year during hurricane season there are the folks who steadfastly ignore the warnings to evacuate a barrier island (or New Orleans) because of an approaching hurricane. Then, at the height of the storm or during the flooding that follows expect the brave men and women of the Coast Guard to come rescue them. What is it about these people that makes them feel entitled to taxpayer money and life-risking actions of the CG to help them overcome their bad decisions?
While I find that sort of presumptuousness abhorrent, they are still a notch or two above those who took their FEMA handouts and used them to purchase designer handbags, jewelry, and table dances! Despite all the "bad money" wasted, there was still a lot of "good money" spent to provide relief for those who did evacuate and subsequently needed assistance to return and rebuild. I have no probelm helping those who were smart enough to help themselves.
Of course, then there is California. I love the logic applied in that beautiful state. "Look at the spectacular view from the top of this landslide/mudslide, honey! Why don't we build a multi-million dollar home here?" Who was the government mastermind that purchased undeveloped land for public schools? As a geologist, I know that mapping the San Andreas Fault system quickly can be accomplished by playing connect-the-dots with the public school locations! The coastal areas of California are rife with grassy hillsopes above dramatic canyons. Could it be that those are grassy hillsides because they are so frequently burned by (natural) wildfires that no trees of significant age can grow there? N0 - I'm sure it was just overlooked by previous developers who missed the opportunity to fill the canyon with expensive homes! "Buy now - a few choice lots left ... at Fuego Vista!!!"
Even people who (in theory) should know better, repeatedly ignore the signs that there are risks associated with certain landforms. Signs that should signal that there are periodic, if not frequent, processes in play that shape the land. I once had a geology professor (who should have known better) who parked his jeep in a dry stream bed (arroyo) in the western desert and hiked off for the day. When he returned after a long hot day in the desert he found his jeep a few hundred yards downstream - upside down and half buried in the mud after a flash flood had subsided. Apparently it had rained up in the mountains....
Mistakes are a natural part of the human condition. We should learn from them. Public money should not be spent to rescue people from their own stupidity. Personally, I don't think the skills and bravery of the Coast Guard should be squandered on those unwilling to help themselves - their job is hard enough. I don't want Coast Guard tombstones to read "We can't just leave them here!" - I'd rather rename entire towns of rubble to Darwinsburg!
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Monday 14 December 2009
Cell Phones Make us Rude
It seems that a connected society is a rude society. The now nearly ubiquitous appearance of cellular phones on the streets, in cars, in business, and in the home has changed not only our behaviors, but our expectations of each other as well.
As a rule, we have come to a point where we expect instant access to everyone involved in our lives. The idea that "back in the day" you could call someone and have the phone just ring (never to be answered) or, worse, receive a busy signal is unbelievable! Somehow the world continued to turn, even if we couldn't simply leave a voicemail or a text message. The fact that someone wasn't home, meant that they couldn't be reached until they returned - today that is an unbelievable inconvenience.
"Back in the day", we used to consciously decide whether to bother someone at work or to wait until later and call them at home - the cell phone has provided us the opportunity to just call, with little or no worry as to the necessity of interrupting something they may doing. That change in behavior has led to receiver-end responsibilities that appear to be beyond the character of the Average Joe. Planes are delayed by people unwilling or unable to terminate a call, people get up and walk out of meetings if they receive a call, and (horror or horrors) church services and symphony performances are interrupted by ringing phones or texting attendees. Personally I think people with a phone to their ear or talking away into a bluethooth earpiece should be refused service in convenience stores - or shot on sight!
The distractedness of drivers holding a phone to their ear has been well documented. Some cities and states have made it illegal to use a hand-held cell phone while driving. Here in Texas it is now illegal to be on a cell phone while driving in a school zone - which helps only minimally during the daily commute as school zones are inactive ... unless you are lazy and don't go into work until 7 or 8! If you live in Texas, have you ever had anyone say "Sorry I'm entering a school zone - I'll have to call you back" and hang up? That's about as likely to happen as the lady in front of you putting on her make-up before leaving the house!
Bluetooth headsets and car/phone integration is intended to help - but most businesses require protracted data entry to speak the right language, access the proper account, or to reach the right department which doesn't float with the whole hands-free thing! And what's with this fascination of spelling things with phone numbers? Try calling 1-800-WHO-CARE(s) from a QWERTY smartphone.... I have to carry a small printed keypad telling me which letters go with which numbers. Ridiculous. Why are people so annoyed by your confusion when they walk up to you and say something completely random? They usually give you one of those "Are you stupid?" looks and jab a finger toward their bluetooth earpiece. Fortunately my gesticulated response can't be represented in print.
What we need is a realignment of our behaviors, expectations, and technologies. Evolving technology opens a world of opportunity for being more efficient - but at what cost? I am convinced that texting is pushing the next phase of human evolution toward beings unable to lift their heads, who are all thumbs with stubby little atrophied digits that used to be used for things like dialing phones, typing on keyboards, and turning the pages of books that used to be p-r-i-n-t-e-d!
As a rule, we have come to a point where we expect instant access to everyone involved in our lives. The idea that "back in the day" you could call someone and have the phone just ring (never to be answered) or, worse, receive a busy signal is unbelievable! Somehow the world continued to turn, even if we couldn't simply leave a voicemail or a text message. The fact that someone wasn't home, meant that they couldn't be reached until they returned - today that is an unbelievable inconvenience.
"Back in the day", we used to consciously decide whether to bother someone at work or to wait until later and call them at home - the cell phone has provided us the opportunity to just call, with little or no worry as to the necessity of interrupting something they may doing. That change in behavior has led to receiver-end responsibilities that appear to be beyond the character of the Average Joe. Planes are delayed by people unwilling or unable to terminate a call, people get up and walk out of meetings if they receive a call, and (horror or horrors) church services and symphony performances are interrupted by ringing phones or texting attendees. Personally I think people with a phone to their ear or talking away into a bluethooth earpiece should be refused service in convenience stores - or shot on sight!
The distractedness of drivers holding a phone to their ear has been well documented. Some cities and states have made it illegal to use a hand-held cell phone while driving. Here in Texas it is now illegal to be on a cell phone while driving in a school zone - which helps only minimally during the daily commute as school zones are inactive ... unless you are lazy and don't go into work until 7 or 8! If you live in Texas, have you ever had anyone say "Sorry I'm entering a school zone - I'll have to call you back" and hang up? That's about as likely to happen as the lady in front of you putting on her make-up before leaving the house!
Bluetooth headsets and car/phone integration is intended to help - but most businesses require protracted data entry to speak the right language, access the proper account, or to reach the right department which doesn't float with the whole hands-free thing! And what's with this fascination of spelling things with phone numbers? Try calling 1-800-WHO-CARE(s) from a QWERTY smartphone.... I have to carry a small printed keypad telling me which letters go with which numbers. Ridiculous. Why are people so annoyed by your confusion when they walk up to you and say something completely random? They usually give you one of those "Are you stupid?" looks and jab a finger toward their bluetooth earpiece. Fortunately my gesticulated response can't be represented in print.
What we need is a realignment of our behaviors, expectations, and technologies. Evolving technology opens a world of opportunity for being more efficient - but at what cost? I am convinced that texting is pushing the next phase of human evolution toward beings unable to lift their heads, who are all thumbs with stubby little atrophied digits that used to be used for things like dialing phones, typing on keyboards, and turning the pages of books that used to be p-r-i-n-t-e-d!
Wednesday 9 December 2009
The Global Climate Crisis!
"On December 7, leaders from 192 countries will gather at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to determine the fate of our planet. Let’s turn Copenhagen into Hopenhagen. Sign the Climate Petition and become a citizen at hopenhagen.org."
I recently visited the UN Global Climate Change Conference website out of curiosity. When I made the “Hopenhagen” icon and blurb (above) appear on my Facebook wall, I received criticism from family and friends who missed my (intended) sarcasm.
COP15 is going to "determine the fate of our planet"? How absurd! How arrogant! This whole Climate Calamity is a crock! Who is leading the charge? The (honorable?) Al Gore is one of the most visible promoters of global warming … (oops!) cooling … (oops!) climate change … (oops!) climate CRISIS! While Mr. Gore is undoubtedly a skilled politician and accomplished speaker, he’s not the brightest bulb in the string when it comes to responsible science. He has surgically extracted scientific facts that support his agenda and repackaged them so even the knuckle-dragging Average Joe could understand his message. To claim that human activity is responsible for causing the undeniable climate shift we are experiencing and (worse) that humankind can reverse that change is the epitome of human arrogance.
Even if you rode the small bus to your “Rocks for Jocks” class you would know that the geologic record contains well-documented evidence of global sea level fluctuations associated with climate changes across millions of years. In Al Gore’s televised Inconvenient (yet profitable) Truth he theatrically showed a climate change graph that was restricted to the most recent Holocene which conveniently excluded the preceding peak which nearly equals present day conditions.
You don’t have to include a great deal more of the graph to see what I mean: http://teachingboxes.org/seaLevel/lessons/lesson4_SeaLevelCurveGraph.htm
As a professional scientist, I find the “spinning” of perfectly good data into a promoted agenda particularly distasteful. Heaven knows that real scientists strive daily to remove or mitigate subjectivity and personal bias from the process. If I turned out this kind of science at work, I wouldn't be invited to Oslo - I'd be shown the door! At this point I am nearly certain that Mr. Gore’s rhetoric has surely surpassed bovine flatulence as a source of “greenhouse gas”. Did I mention that this is how he makes a living?
What really chaps my … well, “sticks in my craw” … is that despite his prostitution of my science, and his promotion of an “Incomplete Truth” Mr. Gore has succeeded in starting an important dialogue. At an emotional level there is nothing bad about rallying a global community around being more energy efficient, less polluting, and more conservation-minded with Earth’s natural resources. One can easily anticipate that the resolutions, accords, and protocols likely to result from COP15 will financially burden countries and companies alike. While the overall direction likely to be taken is laudable the timeframe for change promoted by this “crisis” will strain everyone.
But the delegates attending COP15 are all exceedingly “green” well-meaning folks, right? If that is the case then why have the majority arrived in their private jets, and why have they booked up 200 limousines for the week in Copenhagen. I have found when travelling there that trains/subways are great for getting around, even though walking is the norm – most locals bicycle to and from work and around town. I wonder what the carbon footprint of COP15 would look like?
COP15 is going to "determine the fate of our planet"? How absurd! How arrogant! This whole Climate Calamity is a crock! Who is leading the charge? The (honorable?) Al Gore is one of the most visible promoters of global warming … (oops!) cooling … (oops!) climate change … (oops!) climate CRISIS! While Mr. Gore is undoubtedly a skilled politician and accomplished speaker, he’s not the brightest bulb in the string when it comes to responsible science. He has surgically extracted scientific facts that support his agenda and repackaged them so even the knuckle-dragging Average Joe could understand his message. To claim that human activity is responsible for causing the undeniable climate shift we are experiencing and (worse) that humankind can reverse that change is the epitome of human arrogance.
Even if you rode the small bus to your “Rocks for Jocks” class you would know that the geologic record contains well-documented evidence of global sea level fluctuations associated with climate changes across millions of years. In Al Gore’s televised Inconvenient (yet profitable) Truth he theatrically showed a climate change graph that was restricted to the most recent Holocene which conveniently excluded the preceding peak which nearly equals present day conditions.
You don’t have to include a great deal more of the graph to see what I mean: http://teachingboxes.org/seaLevel/lessons/lesson4_SeaLevelCurveGraph.htm
As a professional scientist, I find the “spinning” of perfectly good data into a promoted agenda particularly distasteful. Heaven knows that real scientists strive daily to remove or mitigate subjectivity and personal bias from the process. If I turned out this kind of science at work, I wouldn't be invited to Oslo - I'd be shown the door! At this point I am nearly certain that Mr. Gore’s rhetoric has surely surpassed bovine flatulence as a source of “greenhouse gas”. Did I mention that this is how he makes a living?
What really chaps my … well, “sticks in my craw” … is that despite his prostitution of my science, and his promotion of an “Incomplete Truth” Mr. Gore has succeeded in starting an important dialogue. At an emotional level there is nothing bad about rallying a global community around being more energy efficient, less polluting, and more conservation-minded with Earth’s natural resources. One can easily anticipate that the resolutions, accords, and protocols likely to result from COP15 will financially burden countries and companies alike. While the overall direction likely to be taken is laudable the timeframe for change promoted by this “crisis” will strain everyone.
But the delegates attending COP15 are all exceedingly “green” well-meaning folks, right? If that is the case then why have the majority arrived in their private jets, and why have they booked up 200 limousines for the week in Copenhagen. I have found when travelling there that trains/subways are great for getting around, even though walking is the norm – most locals bicycle to and from work and around town. I wonder what the carbon footprint of COP15 would look like?
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