Dr. Peter Watts, a 51 year old Canadian science-fiction writer, was found, against all odds, guilty of…well, I’m not sure what. Apparently he asked why his car was being searched at the Sarnia/Huron border, which got him pummeled while still in his car. Then they ordered him out of his car, which he complied with. Then they asked him to get on the ground, and he made the mistake of asking what the problem was. Then they maced him and arrested him.
Despite his attorney completely decimating the border guards testimony (she had accused Watts of choking her amongst other things that turned out to be wholesale lies) and showing how contradictory their written and verbal accounts were, that one fateful question, “What’s the problem?” has made him a felon in the U.S.. I have no doubt he’ll never see the inside of a jail…but, then, I never thought he’d be convicted either.
Despite this shitty situation, Watts remains very classy and writes about the ordeal on his blog here.
I should probably just quit pretending that this blog is photography related and just admit that it’s a full blown environmental platform. Perhaps I should try and mix the two.
Anyway, I read an excellent article in Newsweek called Their Own Worst Enemies concerning how scientists disseminate thier findings on Global Warming and how more and more people, as a result, are deciding that the whole thing is exaggerated. I’ve railed against Climate Deniers before on this blog. I’m fully aware that calling anyone that disagrees with Climate Change stupid is perhaps not the best way to get them on your side, but I can’t help it; It feels good and serves as a way to vent all the bile that would otherwise cover me in rage goiters.
The main thrust of the article is that scientists, though brilliant, are terrible communicators, and are perceived as arrogant by the masses. The author, Sharon Begley, parallels this to the rising popularity of Creationism over Evolution in the United States. Creationists, idiots though they are (there I go again), can rip scientists apart in public forums because scientists appeal to reason, and Creationists, like Climate Deniers, appeal to emotion with great success. In that contest emotion is going to win most of the time. People, for the most part, are ruled by emotion. We have to work hard to overcome emotion to see reason even when it’s put right in front of us.
There are lots of good psychological and historical points in the article that explain peoples views (especially in the U.S.) on such issues that I hadn’t considered before.
Got Cindy to pose for some pics with the gun (replica) the other day. Here are a few of the results:
