It is beyond my understanding why we have so many legislators in Congress without a basic understanding of science. Another GOP legislator brought a snowball into Congress to prove the climate wasn’t warming. The country that has seen so many scientific innovations also has a governing body that lacks scientific knowledge in many of its members. I am old enough to remember when the GOP did not have these type of members.
Thanks for another wonderful article and the NASA video
Thank you for shining a light on ignorance & stunning ineptitude.
One could be forgiven for thinking this scene was taken from a satirical movie. But instead it’s actually a Republican member of the GOP Congress displaying the staggering limits of their ability to conceive facts, accept science or be a part of a competent governing body.
Early pioneers of science have already covered this ground but the US puts people in positions of power who have no concept or knowledge & manufacture outlandish conspiracies that are readily disproven. The quote you cite is a headshake moment. Your Dutch saying is perfect!
Once again, you’ve composed a brilliant piece. And once again, I thank you.
The average US Senator last encountered science 40 - 50 years ago. My 10th grader knows more science than they ever did (and more than I learned by 10th grade, although I took classes in college as well and try to keep up.)
"I am happy to learn that Republican Representative from Texas, Louie Gohmert, has accepted Copernicus' scientific insights of the year 1500." Some learn slowly. Generationally. But I would not make it about Rep vs. Dem. Mindsets are not only political (although politics creates a handy visual manifestation of mindset, quite often). Mindsets do change... in time. I'm taking a big breath as I write that because it is a big thought. It's a centuries-scale thought, not a decades-scale thought. So, from the centuries-perspective, it seems that there is a little movement happening. I know we are "impatient" for change, especially around climate change, and I get that. But can we really harness another's mindset, just as that individual you referenced wants to harness the moon and its tides? By the way... think about that... harnessing the lunar tides... something very patriarchal about that... don't get me started!!!
Have I ever mentioned that my last name means "bell" in Swiss German? So that Dutch saying makes perfect sense to me. I don't think it exists in German either.
That video is so well made. Those voices of hope and love for the planet. Let's hope they listen!
I don't think I should comment on the GOP and science, but I guess it's what happens when your education system is not fact i.e. science-based. My high school was the first non-church affiliated (established in 1802) of its kind in Switzerland and three future nobel laureates attended (for a school that size and the town of Aarau, that's quite a lot). What I'm trying to say is that education needs to be free - in the sense that it should be fact-based. And whether the GOP or others like it or not - facts are facts. There are not alternative facts. A scientific theory is FACT. But I don't need to tell you or your readers that. It just makes me so angry that certain countries deprive their children of the most basic of science education.
The Dutch quote is on point, Alexander! I did get the biggest laugh out of this part of the article. It is difficult to imagine that these people have a hand in governing the United States. If only more people could see this article, they too could understand what the important issue actually is. Thank you for explaining the details of how the moon climate change theory compares to the current issues. The time it takes fingernails to grow is a simply perfect analogy. By association, his reminds me, a bit off topic, of Aristotle's odd philosophy of exactly how long fingernails should, which is also funny.
It is beyond my understanding why we have so many legislators in Congress without a basic understanding of science. Another GOP legislator brought a snowball into Congress to prove the climate wasn’t warming. The country that has seen so many scientific innovations also has a governing body that lacks scientific knowledge in many of its members. I am old enough to remember when the GOP did not have these type of members.
Thanks for another wonderful article and the NASA video
Thank you for shining a light on ignorance & stunning ineptitude.
One could be forgiven for thinking this scene was taken from a satirical movie. But instead it’s actually a Republican member of the GOP Congress displaying the staggering limits of their ability to conceive facts, accept science or be a part of a competent governing body.
Early pioneers of science have already covered this ground but the US puts people in positions of power who have no concept or knowledge & manufacture outlandish conspiracies that are readily disproven. The quote you cite is a headshake moment. Your Dutch saying is perfect!
Once again, you’ve composed a brilliant piece. And once again, I thank you.
Btw, the drone video is beautiful!
The average US Senator last encountered science 40 - 50 years ago. My 10th grader knows more science than they ever did (and more than I learned by 10th grade, although I took classes in college as well and try to keep up.)
"I am happy to learn that Republican Representative from Texas, Louie Gohmert, has accepted Copernicus' scientific insights of the year 1500." Some learn slowly. Generationally. But I would not make it about Rep vs. Dem. Mindsets are not only political (although politics creates a handy visual manifestation of mindset, quite often). Mindsets do change... in time. I'm taking a big breath as I write that because it is a big thought. It's a centuries-scale thought, not a decades-scale thought. So, from the centuries-perspective, it seems that there is a little movement happening. I know we are "impatient" for change, especially around climate change, and I get that. But can we really harness another's mindset, just as that individual you referenced wants to harness the moon and its tides? By the way... think about that... harnessing the lunar tides... something very patriarchal about that... don't get me started!!!
Have I ever mentioned that my last name means "bell" in Swiss German? So that Dutch saying makes perfect sense to me. I don't think it exists in German either.
That video is so well made. Those voices of hope and love for the planet. Let's hope they listen!
I don't think I should comment on the GOP and science, but I guess it's what happens when your education system is not fact i.e. science-based. My high school was the first non-church affiliated (established in 1802) of its kind in Switzerland and three future nobel laureates attended (for a school that size and the town of Aarau, that's quite a lot). What I'm trying to say is that education needs to be free - in the sense that it should be fact-based. And whether the GOP or others like it or not - facts are facts. There are not alternative facts. A scientific theory is FACT. But I don't need to tell you or your readers that. It just makes me so angry that certain countries deprive their children of the most basic of science education.
The Dutch quote is on point, Alexander! I did get the biggest laugh out of this part of the article. It is difficult to imagine that these people have a hand in governing the United States. If only more people could see this article, they too could understand what the important issue actually is. Thank you for explaining the details of how the moon climate change theory compares to the current issues. The time it takes fingernails to grow is a simply perfect analogy. By association, his reminds me, a bit off topic, of Aristotle's odd philosophy of exactly how long fingernails should, which is also funny.
🙏👏 Thank you,
what an awesome animal showdown video created with Drones, and the children voicing their hopes . . .