Quality Entertainment: Watching the Bug Zapper

Here in the South, it's the rainy season of Spring. The mosquitoes are fierce and plentiful. Watching them swarm to the bug zapper on my patio, it occurred to me that people can be just like mosquitoes. They swarm around an issue and fling themselves into oblivion on the electrified screen of opinion.

I'm no more immune to this human frailty than anyone else. It's easy to let your emotions run away with you when strong feelings propel you into opening your mouth before using your brain. We all do it, some more than others. The trick is to realize what's happening. With that said, keep reading, ha, ha.

News and opinion sources today are full of examples. Many are busy beating themselves on the brick wall of opinion, yet little real thought and reason is readily apparent. There's a lot of shouting going on about various issues and events. All kinds of "advocates", "experts", and government "officials" are stepping into the bullring, but not much work is being accomplished.

For example:

The BP oil spill recovery effort. The following excerpt is a good example of our vaunted leaders "taking the situation in hand". (cough, cough)

"Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano were to lead a Senate delegation to the region on Monday to fly over affected areas and keep an eye on the response."--Fox News

Isn't that an efficient use of our resources! What leadership we are lucky to have!

(This is called "irony" for those of you who are visiting from the tinfoil hat society.)

Spending a small fortune of our tax dollars on a sound bite, they are doing nothing but butt-covering and posturing. These folks have been shown up to be clueless and ineffective leaders of their respective organizations. What is going to be accomplished by such an action? Pressuring BP? Coming up with a brilliant engineering solution to stop the leak? Don't hold your breath over that one, they don't have the know-how. What they do know how to do is waste time and money in futile trips and hot air. Reality and common sense seems to elude them, or is purposely ignored in the pursuit of their own agenda. Pretty stupid, but also very human.

Just as foolish, is the alarmist promotion of the severity of this spill by some of the media, with a lot of wild speculation everywhere about what "will" or "might" happen as a consequence of this action.

The most apparent, real consequence so far is that 11 men lost their lives, and lots of oil will need to be cleaned up. All the rest is "the sky is falling" malarkey. "Trash science" is running rampant. Show us the data! Not your opinion, we've got more of that than we need.

If you think the press is out in force on this spill, you are right. However, they are far outnumbered by the legal profession members swarming in for what they see as an easy kill. Follow the money. Right behind them are the various environmental and other groups swooping in like buzzards to line their pockets, riding the issues to pump up their fundraising. All sorts of human buzzards are circling.

Time to ClearOurBrainZ !

Reality check: We will continue to need that oil for the foreseeable future. Sure, we are moving away from oil as our primary energy engine, but it will take decades to get there. Even then, we will require petroleum for many of our industrial feed stocks. The amount of oil coming out of that well is proof, undeniable proof, that vast reserves are there in the deep water. We have to learn to tap them without making a big mess. We learn how by doing it, applying tested engineering skills to the problems, and trying new techniques. We will do it wrong before we do it right. That's called the learning curve. You have to test your theories and prototypes to see what works and what doesn't.

Whining about your failures accomplishes nothing. You clean up the mess and try again until you

succeed.The relief wells, being drilled as we speak, will tap that huge reservoir of petroleum. The income BP generates from this will more than pay for the cleanup and recovery efforts, even a hefty profit. And, the industry will have learned what not to do, and what is practical within the realm of current engineering technology.

Yes, the spill is bad. Very bad. Moaning about it won't fix anything. Hard work, innovation, and research will. Get out of the way and let those folks do their job. They're very good at it.

Your comments, please.

Reality or Rant? That is the question.

It's time to get back to basics. Our purpose here today is to face reality, but how do we draw the line between what the facts are, and the emotional bias inherent in today's issues?

Hard data, verifiable facts, repeatable results. Sound familiar? It's the scientific method. A method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. The difference between saying something is so, and being able to prove it, is required. It's an especially difficult task when dealing with human affairs, but not an insurmountable one.

How do we get the facts? By hard work, perseverance, application of our intelligence, and the willingness to experiment. Objectivity. Logic. Many become wedded to their "pet" theories, and thereby contaminate their results. We've seen such public examples in the recent "Climategate" fiasco. The "Not Invented Here" attitude. "Bending" the data to fit the results you would like to see is a waste of every one's time and resources. Those who do such things forever lose credibility. As they should.

Back to our focus today: Reality is acceptance of facts. If you can't show us the math, verifiable results from experimentation, and useful applications of the same, then it's not reality. Just opinion, of which there are approximately as many as there are mouths. Show me the proof. That's what will bring home the bacon. Where's your data?

All of the shouting, protesting, sit-ins, posturing, finger pointing and other emotional carrying on won't change the facts, or the math. A plus B equals C. It's immutable and logical. I know this is a simplistic example, but it's true just the same. Try it for yourself. It's the best way to describe the real world. If you can't show the mathematical basis for your work, and the corroborating data, it's not science, it's opinion.

So, how are we going to apply this to the problems we face as a society?

There are no simple answers here. It's never easy to look for solutions to complex problems, even though it's attractive to many. The reality is, it will take a lot of work. Collecting the data. Experimentation. Forming hypotheses. Testing them. Trying again. If it were easy, we would have already done it. It's not easy or simple.

Time to ClearOurBrainZ !

How, you say? By leaving our egos and emotions out of the picture. Sure, empathy and concern will drive our efforts. But we must be willing to face the reality of the facts, and the results of our application of the scientific method. We might not like what we find, but it won't change the reality of it.

I hope we will have the courage to face it.

Your comments, please.