Stupid is as stupid dose. Forest Gump.
Here she is in front of the French Parliament, saying things like:
“Or maybe, you are simply not mature enough to tell it like it is.”
“Because even that burden you leave to us children. We become the bad guys who have to tell people these uncomfortable things because no one else wants to or dares to.”
“And just for quoting and acting on these numbers, we receive unimaginable amounts of hate and threats.”
https://youtu.be/ns54HAZgHvY
Bold. Sad. Because the so-called grown ups are too afraid of losing their prominent jobs and social standing to take a stand, we are where we are.
Chris said:
So, yes, sometimes science is fake. More often than we’d like. I find this to be especially true in the medical arena and I never simply accept what even my most trusted doctor has to say about something. I take it into consideration and then turn to Google and other opinions before choosing a course of action.Chris, the only science you referred to in your article was climate science, and that is NOT fake. Yes, medical science has been corrupted by Big Pharma, that we all know. But in climate science, the consensus around manmade global heating has only become stronger:
'No doubt left' about scientific consensus on global warming, say experts
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/24/scientific-consensus-on-humans-causing-global-warming-passes-99 You always have to ask, where is big money on the issue? Just like in the medical sphere, big money will try to corrupt the issue to serve its own ends. In this issue, big money is spreading disinformation and FUD, very successfully, as you can see from some of the comments on this very page. When you are told that the plot is that 99% of scientists are contriving an environmental crisis but are being exposed by a plucky band of billionaires and oil companies, you need to check your BS detector!Is there a solution ? I can’t come up with one. I say to people that peak population will be 10 Billion (or perhaps 12 Billion if we build out some renewable infrastructure and we all go vegetarian), but ultimately the sustainable carrying capacity for the human race without fossil energy is significantly less than this peak, perhaps as low as 1 Billion or below.
Ok, so when do we burn through our fossil energy (Not to mention fossil water, forests, top soil, etc) ? My estimate is by the end of this Century. Can you imagine? 10 -12 Billion in 2050 then 1-5 Billion in 2100 ? 50% to 90% reduction of the population size in the space of only 50 years?
In the absence of any solutions, I have begun not to talk about it (unless solicited). I’m too selfish to stop driving, flying, going on holiday. Therefore to talk about it is to Virtue Signal, a sure way to lose friends and is hard to live with in myself. Let’s be brutally clear, I just want to maximise the next 5 years, then another 5 years, then another 5 years etc. This is exactly the same as what the Central banks are doing right now. They see no future, concerned only short term survival.
Lets be honest, honest with myself. It is my fault that we have got into this mess. Yes, my fault. I wanted that car, that house, those holidays, to drive and fly whenever, cheap food, cheap cloths, cheap stuff. My fault. I prioritised my well being over humanity’s long term future.
I understand why it is difficult for most people to blame themselves, especially if they have children. Therefore for them, it is easier to be in denial (manned missions to Mars, driverless cars, high speed rail etc.), or imagine some magical energy source or tech (electric vehicles powered by renewables) or to scapegoat others (bankers, the 1%, the other political growth party)
”‘No doubt left’ about scientific consensus on global warming, say experts“
Then the “experts” are idiots! There should always be doubt because that’s a sign of progress, imagination and learning. To say there is no doubt is to say one has a closed mind. The article has a specific agenda. True learning and education inspires thinking it doesn’t shut it down and say believe what I tell you to. Is that the sounds of sheep bleeting I hear? AKGrannyWGritThe next time you go to Super Walmart (or a large chain super market) pay attention to the people, from the time you get out of your car until you return to it. Watch the people in handicapped parking and the people using electric shopping carts. Watch the people who lean on their push shopping cart out of necessity.
There is an addiction in the US and Western society that we intentionally ignore and it’s not drugs, or alcohol.
The “Elephant in the Room” is an appropriate euphemism for addiction to the Western Diet.
In the US, we spend 5 times as much, per year, on “health care” (2.5 trillion dollars) as we do on the military and yet we aren’t getting healthier. It is estimated that 70% of that spending is to treat chronic conditions brought about by the Western Diet.
The Standard American Diet (SAD), or Western Diet, is destroying our health, our health care system (which can, by itself take down our economy) and the planet. Don’t even get me started about the animal cruelty involved in CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) which we sanction every time we purchase a fast food burger.
I could quote statistics, but virtually everyone on this website is smart enough to find those on their own.
Plus, I was just introduced to “backlash” in a recent podcast, on this website. I have learned, the hard way, that challenging peoples dietary preferences, virtually guarantees backlash.
I have run into one or two honest responses, however. Once, when answering that I no longer eat animal sourced foods, meat or dairy, the response was a simple, “I couldn’t do that.” That’s simple admission of an addiction, though the person who made that statement surely didn’t think of it in those terms.
Les-
I’m totally on board with what you say about self-inflicted diet wounds. The amount of engineered crap food out there…its really appalling. They have PhD food engineers who work overtime sorting out which tastes make us addicted and they make sure to give us a double helping in all of those 100-year shelf-life products in the center aisles of the supermarket.
I know SP has talked about … I forget, something about some body metabolism thing that changes when you whack the immune system at a young age, it changes your metabolism somehow. TH2 mediated something-or-other.
Having said all that - I’m a perfect example of someone who doesn’t want to change my diet - in this way - because I think it continues to work for me. My BMI is good, I eat mostly what I my body seems to want, I do intermittent fasting, I can still do 5 rounds of pad work even with a month break, and mostly what my body seems to want is vegetables with some meat flavoring. That and oatmeal. I don’t know why, but I really love oatmeal. With nuts.
I used to eat sausages, but my body stopped liking sausages for some reason. So no more sausages.
But there are times when I just want a lamb chop. Or a steak. (With green peppercorn sauce). My body seems to ask for it. Is that a craving, or am I just sensing what my body wants and responding to it? I go with “I’m responding to my body”. Of course, I also want chocolate, and … maybe that’s a craving. So who can say?
The cheese I eat, on the other hand, is simply because I love the taste of cheese. Big fan of cheese. And milk.
If there is some vast global horror I can fix by changing my diet, ok. But as an argument for becoming more healthy? That’s not what I’m seeing in my own body. I avoid crap processed foods like the plague, I cook a lot of my own stuff in a crock pot, I try to eat reasonably whole grains, and it all seems to work out just fine. And its all pretty tasty.
I’m 5-9 and 158 pounds, give or take. And did I mention 5 rounds of pad work?
Years ago, I took a survival class. We killed and ate a sheep. I have to say, the sheep was very tasty. There was a “difficult 30 seconds” where the sheep…passed away, followed by an academically interesting butchering process, followed by a spectacular cooking-and-eating process. Is this learned behavior, a “craving”, or simply being the evolutionary end product of millenia of omnivore eating? https://www.boss-inc.com/courses/14-day-field-course/
I’m not giving up my milk, cheese, stew, and occasional lamb chop because it all seems to be working fine for me. My wine? Probably a craving. The lamb chops? Sometimes, after a week - or two - I just feel like a lamb chop. With garlic. And rosemary. And olive oil.
There is a difference between “projections” and “predictions” and between science and statistics (hint: not mathematics). As Chris can tell us bean counters are NOT scientists but scientists can be bean counters.
There is no fake science there is only fake, or bias, in the narrative formed around a set of facts (proven or unproven). Science and it’s practitioners [redacted], [redacted], [redacted] are subject to One truth and that truth is like an infinite fractal. The emotions being expressed are located mostly in the limbic brain. Nature has a built-in biologic Solution to our predicament: DEATH. (problems solved) So, we have a choice, continue to fight death (and gravity (it’s real man!)) or Love the world (as is) and make the best of it.
https://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Mother-toddler-relationship-a-predictor-for-teen-obesity
Why would the Kushners be spending time with Ben B. at his Hamptons home?
Don’t eat meat = body rebels after a while. That’s my experience..... grass fed and high welfare. Lovely. Even kill some of my own. Tears and tasty..... lovely
There is a “scientific method” which is an approach to interacting with information provided by the world that aims to minimise observational bias (as far as can be expected given that we are all human) by automatically reverting back to the null hypothesis (i.e. that no relationship can be determined between the things being studied) unless the hypothesised relationship can withstand years of scrutiny by other scientists. I have a lot of faith in the scientific method itself as an approach to analysing and interacting with the world.
And then there’s this other thing most people are really talking about when they refer to “science” which is the institutionalised entities dealing with techy stuff that few laypeople otherwise understand, and that use the findings of the scientific method to further some kind of economic goal. For example, Big Pharma dives into biochemical topics that few people could really understand, using knowledge gained through the scientific method, in order to make money and arguably do other even less socially constructive things. Similarly, pesticide corporations develop their poisons using knowledge developed through the scientific method.
A lot of people recognise the bad stuff done by the “scientific” organisations of Big Pharma and falsely equate this with the scientific method, which then falsely tarnishes the image of “science” in the public’s eye. There’s nothing wrong with the scientific method; the problem is in how people and institutions abuse it. Anyways, what alternative is there to science? Gut feeling? Religion? Those didn’t do many good things for humanity over our history. Humanity didn’t really advance until the scientific method became more established. Of course, I’d agree that scientific discoveries have enabled humanity to reach this stage of planetary overshoot, but without science we’d still be stuck in the dark ages defecating in the sewers outside our houses and dying from plagues.
The headline about phosphate rock caught my eye. It turns out that it’s based on a peer-reviewed article, that forecasts a peak in phosphate rock production by 2033 (but acknowledges that the year can be way off, even though the peak will eventually come). Pretty eye-catching for a peer-reviewed journal.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S095937800800099X
Yes, Chris I agree with your take on science up to the point where you rely on and consult Wikipedia and Google. The former has totally marginalized its use and credibility by constant “editing” by those with an ax to grind and desires to “thought shape” and control us. And the latter has become a shameless propaganda machine. Believe either at your own intellectual peril.
Boeing https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BA/balance-sheet?p=BA is trading at a TTM P/E of 39.5 with Stockholder Equity of ~ $5.5 Billion. That speaks to a dead market.
The negative government bond yield story is reported without mentioning the obvious: these bonds are negative yield because the governments and associated fantasy money machine require it now to finance government deficit spending.
I’m enjoying this thread. My only comment at this point is that the original line, “I feel like I’ve taken Crazy Pills”, was said by Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. (I suppose Will Farrell’s version was an homage to the original.)
I recall reading about the collapse of one of those ‘cash burn’ websites: CDNow.com
Apparently, at the time of their closure it was calculated that they had been spending (including all costs) $4000 to achieve each CD sale!
That’s cash burn on steroids.
Happened today about 5:45 p.m. PST. One gunman was killed by police, with another possible suspect at large. Police and bystander reports that a rifle was used, with some event attendees reporting hearing multiple rounds of automatic gunfire. The dead and injured (including a 6 year old boy) have not yet been identified. No motive for the shooting has been reported, although a bystander reportedly asked the gunman “Why are you doing this?” and the (now deceased) gunman replied, “Because I’m angry.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/shooting-gilroy-garlic-festival-san-francisco-bay-area-live-updates-today-2019-07-28/
Pipyman: my current plan is to eat meat when it’s offered to me, and not otherwise seek it out (milk and eggs are a different story). It does take some strain on the body. But it is the minimum I can handle at the current time. I am a carnivore/omnivore; but I minimize it as best I can.
In line with that, they find that after starvation, people often turn vegetarian for a few years.
ECM: “believeing” encyclopedias was never a proper research method. Encyclopedias are there to open up the language and some of the references to an incoming researcher. After you find the references, you search the journals… then the related journals.
Much more offensive right now is the progressive unavailability of journals; and the document reclassification act that takes valid materials (like the Congressional record) OFF the shelves; and the subversion of the journals’ willingness to print research based on threat of lawsuit by the interested and invested parties who stand to lose.