Uncle Albert's Cafe and Ǽ-Theory Bistro

I think the military industrial complex and the media portrayal of gee whiz "look at what we can do now.." did play a large role. I also think at how much science and technology improved our lives and made it more easier and efficient to live especially in the west.

The problem is in my older age is that I did not develop a distaste for science and technology. It that it just should not be put on a pedestal. It should be treated like any tool of many tools we have in the tool box to help us live. Use critical thinking and wise leaders to decided how we use these tools.. Am I asking for to much;-)

As far as the media is concerned.. in our fast paced efficient lives, it has really dumbed down society, or may be I am wrong and society which I am included have been dumb all along :-). Maybe the media should be promoting continuous learning in a fun way instead promoting their agendas.... You got treat society as a whole, like a five year old ... Still developing.. More adult Sesame Street..

Take your comment on Sci Am in another thread, like news entertainment it has become science entertainment. The words news and entertainment... science and entertainment have become more blurred..
I miss you Walter

We pray for our life of tomorrow,
Ephemeral life though it be;
This is the habit of our mind
That passed away yesterday.

- Ikkyu

Congratulations Mike.. Its good to show off from time to time..
Next stop a instrument rating maybe..

Here are some ideas from some very smart people.

How to make the world a better place :-)

My favorite excerpt:

Within hunter-gatherer groups, virtually all members possessed the same non-genetic information – that is, the same culture. The exceptions were few: perhaps a hunter with a favourite productive spot for placing rabbit snares, a group of women who knew the medicinal properties of a certain plant, a canoe-builder who had a special way of lashing on an outrigger support, or a shaman whose mentor had taught him a secret incantation.

One might estimate that all adults stored at least 75 percent of the group's significant culture, the information it needed to survive and prosper.

Contrast that with the culture gap in Britain or America today. Even the most educated individuals can't possibly store more than a millionth of one percent of their culture.

If given the correct pile of parts, few would know how to assemble a television set, let alone be able to describe the processes by which the parts were manufactured, the provenance of the materials they embodied, or the methods by which they had been gathered and processed.

Even most university professors could not describe how the basic process of evolution works, give a coherent description of the threat climate change poses to civilization, explain how population size influences vulnerability to novel pandemics, or tell why racism is biological nonsense.

This giant culture gap, a very recent phenomenon in the history of our species, is on display nightly in the evening news and in the blogosphere. To make the world a better place, societies must start trying to close the gap. If many more people know the basics of how the world works, civilization has a much better chance to reach sustainability.

People needn't know about Sun Tzu or Beethoven, but once large numbers are familiar with such things as ecosystem services, elementary demography, and the constraints placed on human activities by the second law of thermodynamics, the human future will be much brighter.

Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University

Congratulations, Mike!

You done good!