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Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson makes a pointed observation here, but I wonder how true it is.

I grant that some of us need to be scientifically literate. Without that, our civilization could not keep up with things like vaccines against pandemics, while creating all other medical breakthroughs.  we wouldn’t have effective anti-ballistic missiles, climate change mitigation solutions, a deeper understanding of the cosmos around us, and the entire ensemble of IT and communications technologies that make our lives ever more productive.

Keep in mind, however that anything of importance that’s happening in science in the 21st Century is happening at the outermost fringes of incredible levels of specificity.  What I learned about physics in college 50 years ago no more qualifies me to understand theoretical physics today than it enables me to fly to the moon in my Prius.

Another thing I would grant is that the 99.999% of us who are not “scientifically literate” in any meaningful way should respect the value of science, and reject QAnon-style beliefs, e.g., the flat Earth, the notion that COVID is a government plot, that global warming is a hoax, that Bill Gates is trying to enslave the population, etc.

Scientific Literacy

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Metaphysics

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Here’s a very short video on the subject of metaphysics, the philosophy of being and reality.

It’s a great example of what I mean when I say that it has been a terrible last few centuries for philosophers.

In ancient times, if you wanted to know what the fundamental building blocks of the universe, you asked a philosopher, perhaps the ancient Athenian Democritus, who propounded the theory of the atom, which was, by definition, indivisible.  Now we refer this question to the realm of particle physics.

Far more recently, those who struggled to know the ultimate nature of reality asked a metaphysician.  Now, once again, we’ve put our trust in science.

I hope you’ll check out the video linked above.

Metaphysics

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Renewable Energy

Invest in Small Wind … At Your Peril

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As a PhD colleague once told me, “If you don’t care how much of pay for electricity, I’ll get you all the renewable energy you could ever ask for.”

In this case, I’d guess the average price per kwh for the typical American household would be somewhere between $5 and $10.

They want you to invest.  Have you ever asked why people with their own money at stake have abandoned these ideas 20 years ago?

Invest in Small Wind … At Your Peril

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Renewable Energy

The U.S. Civil War Didn’t Need to Happen

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At left we see why Lincoln would have done well to let the Confederacy cede from the Union.  He could have simply written a letter to Robert E. Lee stating:

Keep your slaves and your land…for now. Wait until you experience the effects of near-zero industrial and military technology development and the civilized world’s refusal to trade with you barbarians.  By the end of the 19th Century, a stiff breeze will blow you away. Maybe some future U.S. president will invade you with a troop of Boy Scouts with slingshots, or maybe a handful of banditos will ride up from Mexico.

The U.S. Civil War Didn’t Need to Happen

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