The Anti Science Bullies/ Fools Paradise

The Anti Science Bullies/ Fools Paradise

Full disclosure-  l along with many like minded folks have from time to time been a critic of the science establishment. I am probably in the minority though when I say that its system of institutions, of masters and subservient  journeymen has changed little since the days of the alchemists. However, despite these criticisms, since the days of Darwin from these systems have come the most rational outlook on the world and how it works. No other currently available belief system  approaches its propensity toward discovery and ability to predict and describe nature.  

                          http://cdpow.blogspot.com/2008/05/evolution-of-man.html

For better or worse now more than ever we live in a world ruled by technology. To  those in the business of discovery or of getting things done, this has been nothing short of a revolution. Science can look now onto a constant flow of data and statistics on any subject of research that one may desire to investigate, virtually in real time. These changes to the way things get done has afforded new levels of openness and increased cooperation among once diverse and disparate fields of study. This has lead  to  a  general hastening to the pace of advancement in many fields of endeavor including engineering technology, medicine and the study of our environment. We may be on the threshold of a new age of discovery. There is a point however to which we are swiftly approaching where these advances may ultimately be of little consequence.

 One obvious side effect of this information glut is the increased availability and reach of misinformation and out and out lies.  It has always been true that smaller minds always endeavor to subjugate those more enlightened. Whether it be for fear that new perspectives may somehow usurp the powers that be, or merely a fear of change it is they who would stand in the way of progress.
Perhaps in their heart of hearts they suspect that their well worn image of the world may merely be an illusion. Their agenda then is to undermine reason at all costs. It is in this kind of fear, bred from ignorance that could  ultimately prove to be the greatest threat to human survival.

Science is the only belief system that will tell you things that you don’t want to hear. People at first did not want to know that the Earth was not the center of their universe. Over time through experiment and observation, these truths were accepted as such. The same could be said for the current state of the world. Though  groups of well funded anti science thugs, and religious zealots would rather you believe otherwise, we may potentially be on the cusp of an extinction event in which we play the starring role. Despite this,there are those among us either through delusion or deceit  who then choose to perpetuate the mindset of a  consumer centered culture. Unfortunately we live in a world that is increasingly less able to sustain it.

Whether we choose to believe it or not we may very 
well be standing collectively on the edge of a new era. The nature of this new era, more so than in any other time in our history depends mostly on the things we choose to do today.  Though these things may never come to pass, to deny the mounting evidence is to live in a fools paradise.

                                    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aralship2.jpg

  http://www.businessinsider.com/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-is-already-happening-2014-7

Moving forward then is made more difficult by the plain fact that whole portions of this nation  are now caught up in a deep running culture of denial. This phenomenon, fueled by misinformation and an outdated fundamentalism is by no means new. This new wave however is coming at a most inopportune time. For these people have become victims not only of their own beliefs but  by a class that subjugates working people and culture of greed that demonizes reason as being anti business. The problem with these arguments is that people find themselves struggling against their own interests. And worse yet what solutions could be available are being dismantled one by one by groups of conservative bullies whose power to intimidate those more moderate grows daily..

              

 Read more on extinctions and climate change and why we should care.

http://climate.nasa.gov/
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/july/sixth-mass-extinction-072414.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events
http://www.mysterium.com/extinction.html
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-5145