Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Bubble Of Unreality
I was waiting for someone else to cover this. It’s being done, but the attention paid is far, far below what I believe is appropriate.
In the photo to the left is a picture of some guy who was almost elected President in 2000, someone whom many believe really ought to be the President, after six-year-old election results in Florida are invalidated due to vague shenanigans. His name is Al Gore and he’s produced a movie called “An Inconvenient Truth” about the world coming to an end because of man-made global warming (abbreviated, on this blog, as MMGW). You can tell this is an extremely serious, life-threatening global emergency, because of the way Mr. Gore is yucking it up on the set of Current.tv. Tee hee! We’re all gonna die!
Well, it turns out Mr. Gore is ushering in a climactic disaster of his own, this one creating a massive hole in the ozone layer of truth. This is deliberate. While breathlessly awaiting the release of Mr. Gore’s new movie, Grist Magazine sat down and had an interview with him about MMGW, what it is, how to stop it, how to get people motivated, and oh by the way does he plan to run for President again. Boy, that is one hard-hitting interview.
The subject came around to how, exactly, does one go about getting the message out to people that MMGW is a real thing and that something has to be done about it. You know, how to get people motivated. And Virtual President Gore had quite an interesting bombshell to drop. He conceded, readily, that in his position there comes a point where you have to choose between a sincere presentation of the facts, and motivating your intended audience to do what you want them to do. And surprise surprise, he opts for the second of those two.
Q. There’s a lot of debate right now over the best way to communicate about global warming and get people motivated. Do you scare people or give them hope? What’s the right mix?
A. I think the answer to that depends on where your audience’s head is. In the United States of America, unfortunately we still live in a bubble of unreality. And the Category 5 denial is an enormous obstacle to any discussion of solutions. Nobody is interested in solutions if they don’t think there’s a problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are, and how hopeful it is that we are going to solve this crisis.
Over time that mix will change. As the country comes to more accept the reality of the crisis, there’s going to be much more receptivity to a full-blown discussion of the solutions.
Let me see if I have this straight. Over time, we will become more receptive to the notion of MMGW and to strategies for doing something about it, and at that point it will be okay to level with us. But until then, we live in a “bubble of unreality” and the only way to pierce that bubble is to…I want to adhere very closely to what he’s saying here…”have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is.”
We live in unreality, so the only way to get through to us is to lie to us.
Well clearly this is not an across-the-board thing, because Mr. Gore believes in an under-representation of what needs to be done, when it comes to relocating the people who live on our coastlines, inland, lest they wake up to a foot and a half of seawater in their living rooms. To the best I’m aware, he hasn’t called for anything like that, although he certainly should be expected to if one takes his claims seriously.
So Mr. Gore, I’m gathering, is selective about when to oversell the MMGW schtick, and when to undersell it. So a chunk of this thing, at least, has nothing to do with science and everything to do with showmanship. That much is proven. How big that chunk is, I’ll leave it up to readers to form their own opinions.
I’ve formed mine.
Hat tip on this item, to Maggie’s Farm, by way of FARK.
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[…] Oh, and as an aside: Tuning out, when someone starts trying to sell you on the idea that “the planet is doomed unless you do what I say”…is what intellectually healthy people do. Yeah, even when the facts aren’t all in yet. There’s such a thing as figuring out when someone’s trying to bullshit you. […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 11/22/2010 @ 11:15