After posting some about NASA science being under attack, i thought this was a nice addition to the thought:
"Generally attack against science is part of a greater attack against intellectualism in general. I think right now we're in an anti-intellectual period in the United States, but I think the pendulum will swing back in the other direction again."
-Physicist Alan Lightman
I think part of it has to do with their are little to no good intellectual role models right now, while we are currently turning more to sports figures and bimbos like Paris Hilton which are becoming role models.
Comments (4)
Generally science is always under attack. If we accept the ideas of science we are forced to challenge certain concepts that provide comfort in our lives. It is a bleak outlook.
Posted by squared | February 16, 2006 12:27 PM
Posted on February 16, 2006 12:27
Yeah. The world could really, really use another Carl Sagan. There are a lot of warning signs apparent with the current society and not just in the US. Jihads, religious riots over cartoons, religious initiatives within the government (Bush's religious right pandering, George Deutsch's interference and agenda within the NASA PR department, general appeals to religion and patriotism) are not unkown in our species' long history during which religious zeal, pride and xenophobia have sometimes played major parts.
+As squared said, waking up from the dream is much more daunting than continuing to dream.
As far as NASA's concerned, I'm really glad they at least they threw out that Texas A&M "graduate" Deutsch who was playing politics and they've been improving after their recent re-staffing under Griffin instead of O'Keefe. The Mars rovers and the recent launch really helped NASA, and they're getting budget for now... of course, the shuttle's retirement is creating budget strain and there is talk of putting some scientific endeavors on hold indefinitely. Hope that won't be the case -- maybe more Russian cooperation on missions can help this.
Either way, there is no good time for an anti-intellectual period. We can put ourselves into the hands of our leaders and our gods or we can go try to solve the problems. We can leave our wonder to fantasy, or we can reach out and see how far into existance we may peer.
If not for that, then why be alive at all?
Damacus
PS - Glad to hear you're still playing the UNIX game. Good shit. Tried Gentoo?
PPS - Good space movie - "The Dish" - I suspect you'll like it.
Posted by Damacus | February 17, 2006 9:51 PM
Posted on February 17, 2006 21:51
i love it when you get into your ranting moods. i don't know if you just type so fast it becomes virtually unintelligible or what. go buffs!!
Posted by dave | February 18, 2006 8:05 PM
Posted on February 18, 2006 20:05
Intellectualism has never been for the masses. While the general population looks up to "role models" in the media i think you'll find that intellectuals are getting together to discuss important topics, especially in science.
Posted by nicole | February 20, 2006 1:42 PM
Posted on February 20, 2006 13:42