"science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. i have a foreboding of an america ... when the united states is a service and information society; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness." carl sagan.
let us shorten this brief epistle down to a sound bite capable of being understood by even the most casual of thinkers. and that is, as forrest gump & his mama noted, that "stupid is as stupid does."
we are a society uneducated and uncaring about the physical sciences, this broadly speaking, because some certainly do. but, not many, and certainly not the mainstream, because we do nothing that requires any facility with numbers, measurement, mathematics, and a rudimentary knowledge of engineering and physics. the reason, as sagan noted, is that we make and manufacture nothing, and people are ignorant of the skills and knowledge that comes with the use of the hands as tools.
we do not reason, and we do not stretch our thinking to contemplate the consequences of our thoughts and opinions. (even the "leaders" of nations haven't figured out what it is to import the muslim jihad into our midst. most are miserable blathering idiots, along the line of charles schumer, and ilk.)
in short, carl sagan feared an age when people have become butt-wipe ignorant.
we are, by the way, arrived at sagan's anticipated destination. i mean no offense, particularly, but most do not care.
john jay @ 03.21.2017
p.s. the result of self indulgent ignorance is chastisement. if you need to, read the old testament prophets on what it portends for a society to turn its back upon its foundations and first principles. or, perhaps better yet for you who prefer not to think disturbing things, just let it be a pleasant surprise.
friends:
in my life i have gone to college, and to law school and practiced a learned profession.
i have also worked 18 hour days in the fields, and pounded nails for a living. i worked the bering sea for 7 months in alaska, after going to law school. my dad, both grand dads, and two older brothers were welders and mechanics, and heavy duty construction workers operating the big stuff.
i have tugged a wrench or two on occasion. and, i have more than a passing familiarity with what are called "the tools of ignorance." i have worked jobs that caused blisters, blisters that cracked and bled.
you will forgive me if i feel that many of you are basically ignorant of the realities of the world.
i take no solace that most of you are going to get a quick education in same, in the not too distant future.
i fear for my children. they haven't a clue, and nothing they have been formally taught has prepared for them.
evil this way comes.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | March 21, 2017 at 08:51 PM
Well said friend. I especially like the quote. It should be sent to the president.
Posted by: Rollie Taylor | March 21, 2017 at 09:05 PM
rollie:
thanks, but, i didn't do too much. the credit goes to sagan.
but, thanks for stopping by.
john
p.s. btw, i should be up in yakima around the 31st or so. i'll try to get a hold of you, if certain persons will allow. laughing.
Posted by: john jay | March 22, 2017 at 09:56 AM