I'm no climatologist, but...

Moving away from the blind ramblings of my insomniac self and on to the ramblings of my angry self. Has this country's lack of respect for logic gone so far as to even infiltrate the computer-savvy community? Today on digg, much to my horror, a british "documentary" claiming that global warming is a sham made it to the front page. Basically, they argue that "climate change has always happened" and "since the atmosphere isn't heating up as quickly as the earth's core, global warming is a sham." Both of these if you think about them for just a few minutes are quite ridiculous. Firstly, any 8th grade earth science student knows about the infrared heat radiated by the earth. The key about global warming isn't that CO2 gas heats up quickly from the sun, but that CO2 gas traps heat into the Earth's atmosphere. Just like February is colder than december and 3pm is warmer than noon, the infrared radiation absorbed and then radiated by the ground affects the general temperature alot more than the absolute amount of sunlight coming in. The more heat that gets trapped in the atmosphere, the more this infrared radiation bounces back and forth before escaping into space. So OF COURSE the ground is getting hotter than the air at a quicker rate. C'mon, did no one pay attention in earth science?

Then there's the argument that climate change has always happened. This is true. Let's set aside for a moment that the rate of climate change is increasing at an exponential rate and the average temperature of the earth is heading way past anything in recorded history. Since, I believe it is true that at times in Earth's history the average temperature has been many times what it is today. Okay, that's fair. Only the Earth itself couldn't give two shits about global warming. In fact, I have a feeling if the Earth were conscious, it would be like "thank goodness these crazy humans are about to kills themselves off so I can get on with my celestial life." Global warming is PURELY a human concern. The Earth has adapted and will adapt and perhaps humanity will go the way of the dinosaurs. The point is that WE CANNOT ADAPT TO SUCH DRASTIC CLIMATE CHANGE. Perhaps thousands of years ago, it didn't matter if half the current continents suddenly were underwater. In fact, it probably didn't. But with the current population, that would be devastating. We're just not set up to take the extra hurricanes and water levels and all the other lovely things that come from global warming.

I really don't understand why some people are fighting it so passionately. Let's pretend for a moment that global warming wasn't happening. Is it so horrible that people are switching to more efficient lightbulbs? In fact, wouldn't it be great if we could develop new energy technologies that got us completely independent of foreign oil sources? In fact, considering that the oil resources are going to run out in less than a century, aren't alternate energy sources even more important? Clearly, I'm quite past convinced that global warming is very real and very dangerous and is going to sneak up on humanity so that by the time people wisen up it'll be too late to reverse. But even if the whole damn thing were a scare tactic, the resulting changes certainly are benign when compared the the thousands of lives lost in the past few years because of a completely false scare tactic employed by the current administration involving WMDs. Seriously, someone please tell me what's so bad about trying to combat global warming?

To go boldly...

Hi. My name is, and I'm an addict. No, not alcohol. Fiction. Several times in my life I've been unable to tear myself away from one fictional world or another. A decade ago it was Star Wars; five years ago, Buffy; now Star Trek. (Yes, I am a sci-fi geek - a proud sci-fi geek). Although I'm beginning to suspect that some of the appeal of science fiction is for intelligent people to get their soap opera fix without having to watch soap operas. I guess it's just central to any good story - conflict, growth, love, loss.

Besides the fact that Spike (the network, not the vampire) shows five hours of various star treks a day (I've yet to get addicted to DS9 though, thank goodness), it's just an appealing universe. The life of a starfleet crewmember is exciting and meaningful. I mean, it's gotta be if each series can run seven seasons. But life, well, like ani says, "Life is a B movie it's stupid and it's strange - a directionless story and the dialogue is strained." Maybe I should just be an astronaut or a doctor or something that they write about. Although, again, as related as some things are to real life it's still fiction. And I don't want Britney-Spears-shaved-head-rehab kinda drama. I don't envy every story on tv. Just the well-written, compelling ones.

I'm probably not making much sense. It's 3am and I've been trying to sleep for hours. Perhaps it's time to stop escaping into fiction and start making my waking life someplace worth being. That's the crux of it anyway. One can't get swept away in fiction if the here and now monopolizes attention. Hmmm...maybe that's the real appeal of the internet. There are infinite paths to explore (and I'm not just talking about fanfic). I guess I understand the appeal of Second Life a bit more now. Though this isn't anything new. People have been getting lost in fiction as long as there have been stories. Or at least thinking that makes me feel better. Back in hunter-gatherer days I don't think they could afford to spend two hours hear the tale of Tom and B'Elanna.

On that note, why are certain classic storylines so compelling? The ladies man who finally falls for the strong-yet-underneath-it-all female character. How many times have we seen that? Scarlet and Rhett? Han and Leia? Pretty much any fairy-tale - Cinderella's prince might not be much of a ladies man, but all the maidens in the kingdom wanted some of that. So as you've probably caught on, it's not just the phasers and warp cores that I envy, but also the relationships. Not just romantic (though those certainly are compelling). The friendships and bonds on all of these damn shows are so strong. Maybe that comes from constantly being in life-threatening situations. But to put oneself in life-threatening situations, one needs to feel like something is worth dying for. Maybe that's why people have children - to feel that profound connection. But that's a whole other topic and the many tangents I've gone on makes it clear that it is waaaaaay past my bedtime. Now if I could only get this emotion into song form...

Happy Cheap Candy Day!

I'm a fan of Valentine's Day kindergarten style. I figure if you're in a relationship you have 364 other days to do cute little things for your significant other. I've decided that Valentine's Day is about cookies and doilies and construction paper hearts. That way it can always be fun - and not incredibly annoying some years and fun other years. So you're all invited to cookie decorating next year.

But it's cold outside!

I try. I really do try to understand where people are coming from. I can usually see the reasoning behind many viewpoints that I completely disagree with. But there are some that just completely elude me. Global warming is one of the biggies. Firstly, it's 2007 people - waaay past time to realize that global warming is real and worth considering. I was watching a star trek:tng episode (yes, I'm a dork and I love it) about how warp drives are slowly destroying the universe - clearly a parable about global warming. TNG ended in 1993. So this thing is from over a decade ago. It's like how I feel about playing guitar. Stay with me here - it makes sense. Kinda. If I had started playing guitar when I first became interested, I'd be the next Jimi Hendrix by now. With boobs. Well, maybe not quite that but certainly way beyond where I am. Instead, I'm so overwhelmed by the prospect of practicing each day that I just keep putting it off. If we had started, and I mean really started, changing our lifestyles a decade ago, can you imagine where we'd be now?

What I absolutely abhor is the argument that global warming is not man-made. I hate to tell you, but whether the pitcher hits the stone or the stone hits the pitcher, it's gonna be bad for the pitcher. Even if it's not man-made, it's still gonna have negative consequences on the human race. But come on people. You've probably inhaled some car exhaust at one point in your lives. Are you telling me that that stuff is perfectly fine for the planet and la-dee-da? Then there's the classic "but it's cold here! clearly there ain't no global warming." Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. Global warming's about climate not weather.

The refusal to believe well over the majority of the scientists in the world reflects another concern I have for this country - the devaluation of education and intelligence. There are satires (like idiocracy and the colbert report). And usually they make me laugh. But sometimes it gets to the point where they make me want to scream. I fear that since those we elect to power were elected by the current populace, attempts to help education are just for show. That's particularly cynical and I know that there are people out there who genuinely believe that if we could just pelt kids with standardized tests, then we'd have a generation of Einsteins. Okay, that's the sarcasm coming out again. But in this day and age, it's difficult not to get disillusioned. Sometimes (and this is really dorky) I wish people were more like Vulcans - in the utilization of logic that is.

Anyway, back to global warming. I just wish I knew of ways that I could help. These days I feel like my brain is going to waste. I can see these patterns and just wish I could affect things more. I encourage everyone to change to compact florescent lights (they're cheaper too!) and shut off lights when I leave rooms. Always wait til the dishwasher is full before running it. I'm even trying to convince my parents to put solar panels on their house and sell energy back to the grid. If I had the money and didn't live in an apartment, I'd do it.

Right now I guess I'll have to settle for posting sarcastic comments on other people's blogs (case in point:

"I am so happy someone has blown the top off this thing. Earth day was completely ruining my life! All I want to do is harmlessly wiretap peoples phones, but those crazy leftists want to hang up posters? It's so intrusive! Imagine using scare tactics to consolidate power. It's disgraceful. Certainly the right would never use anything like fear to have the public fall in line to do something that would have worldwide consequences, like a war. I just don't understand why those liberals insist that I change to compact florescent lights and save money in the big picture. It's like all they can ever think about is the big picture."

which is in response to this random dude. It's a complete waste of time, but then again venting is always therapeutic. What really scares me is that even if everyone agreed that combating global warming deserved our attention, it would be difficult to reverse the effects. Maybe some people who deny that it is happening only do so because the prospect of having to fix it is overwhelming. I just cannot believe that people still value - I don't even know what - over this Earth. Cheesy as it is, there's only one third rock from the sun and it's all we got.

First Post

Might as well hope on the blog bandwagon, right? Especially since I miss writing. Also who knows, maybe someone will eventually read this and give feedback and start an interesting conversation. The idea of putting my ideas down in cyberspace - which seems very transient actually has quite a long memory - was a bit too much of a commitment. I am of the firm belief that people should be able to change their minds. It's not a very popular belief in this country (USA) today. But what's the point of debate and discussion if everyone's opinions are already written in stone? I actually want to start a website that will be a forum for discussion. I call it "The Gray Movement" because not everything is black and white. The philosophy is that every person has motivations and reasons for the things they believe and do. Even if people can't agree, there's usually some basic ideas that others can understand. That's the gray movement - the understanding that for many complicated concepts, there IS not right or wrong. There are an infinite amount of opinions and understanding that is more important than agreeing with each one. It sounds a bit sappy. No, it sounds incredibly sappy. But I think that understanding that beliefs are founded on SOMETHING is an important step. I just don't believe statements like "those people are evil." Because does anyone really think of themselves as evil? The most evil action can be justified by it's own set of givens. Like the Isaac Asimov short story where a robot becomes convinced that his deity has set up a myth for humans - that myth being the planet earth - so that humans would not feel obsolete. No matter what logic the engineers try, they cannot convince the robot otherwise because when you have a conclusion you can usually find a set of givens that proves it.

So these are my musings. I've been inspired to actually get off my ass and write into cyberspace by this video: web2.0. Things are happening now that will change many things that we take as givens. And I want in. So maybe randomly writing at 3am doesn't exactly link me to the future. But have you got any better ideas? (No, really, do you?)