Easy to digest or just marshmallow fluff?

I’ll admit I don’t completely understand this hot button issue known as “framing science“. At first, it seems Nisbet/Mooney are onto something – package a science story in a way that reaches more people, especially those who aren’t normally reached (for various reasons). Let’s bring modern marketing ideas to science. It’s obvious that the lesson was learned via the repackaging of creationism into a shiny new version called Intelligent Design that allowed for more people to latch on. There is no doubt that scientists must talk more and make themselves understood to the everyday (scientifically uneducated) person. Making people feel equal and important instead of ignorant is utilizing the “get more flies with honey than vinegar” metaphor.

In a way, I see how framing can be a good marketing tool. (How can we make this all glittery and glamorous in order to get attention?) Unsurprisingly, it seems that real scientists have more genuine ethical values than mass marketers, advertisers and others pushing an agenda or making money. Framing sounds phony. It seems hypocritical – too much like spin and distorting the truth. They aren’t willing to do it. They consider it a serious subject, not one that should be sugarcoated or made more palatable simply for mass consumption.

The alternative of encouraging more people to learn about and love science is really admirable but not very practical. You can’t get everyone interested in the ins and outs of parasite biology, for example, no matter how important it is to human health in Africa. There must be a process to reach those who watch Entertainment Tonight or the 700 Club exclusively for their current news.

Now, I realize that the whole 800-lb gorilla called religion is in the room here. Is that the reason why it has raised such a rancor? With some issues, it’s nearly impossible to avoid offending someone’s religious beliefs if religion is the framework of their life. I can’t see how to get around that.

It’s vitally important that we recognize today’s news is just as much entertainment as fact (perhaps more of the former). But, too many people are blinded by the views of their political party or dogma to see through the emotional wrapping put over news by the media (overemphasizing conflict, patriotism, heroism, innocence, etc. when it may not really be so). It’s obvious that’s not taken into account by the average American who still believes much of the news they see and read *must* be fact. Plus, people tend to buy into a good story even if they think it is petty, appalling and ridiculous. (Exhibit A: Anna Nicole Smith)

Make no mistake: I am thoroughly disgusted with the media these days. They have failed to legitimately serve the American people in so many ways, I can’t even count. I think Nisbet and Mooney have good intentions and might be on to something here but I have my doubts they can get it to work. And if it does prove successful, I hope it won’t spin out of control. We have enough useless nonsense floating around.

A Cryptozoo in Your Garden

Gardening is my hobby. Right now, I have lots of daffodils and lots of promise growing green in the garden but I don’t have much shrubbery or trees. If I did have some forest backdrop with cover, I sure would like this guy to decorate my garden:

Unfortunately, he’s not life-size. This website* has loads of statuary to make your garden into your very own cryptozoo. From mermaids, dragons, mastodons, unicorns and gargoyles to more out-of-place critters like alligators and big cats. You can really have fun with this stuff! If you’re into it, add an alien. How about Nosferatu in the foyer? Awesome. They have lots of really original stuff.

 

My personal favorite is the sea serpent which they don’t sell here. A local garden center has the concrete version in bronze, natural or vert de gris finish. It’s very eye-catching swimming through the mulch. Maybe I can convince my husband to get it for me. It would be the hit of the neighborhood.

No boring garden gnomes for this girl.

*Note: I have not ordered from this site so I can’t endorse it or vouch for the quality of products.

Paranormal and lost objectivity. I’m not a “believer”

Woo! There’s a shocker considering the name of my blog. But, I want to discuss the paranormal in terms of belief and I’d like to describe why I think I’m more open-minded than those who accept paranormal phenomena as real.

Certain subjects, such as Bigfoot, UFOs, psychic powers, ghosts, Creationism, are thought of by everyday people in terms of black and white – one either believes or doesn’t.

“Do you believe in X?”, is the most frequent media take on these topics.

It’s a poor way to tackle such complex topic. One will understand the subject less when it is polarized with such a buzzword as “believe” and where it is simplified to the question of real or not. To discuss them in terms of believers and non-believers simply helps nothing. To examine such a subject strictly in terms of popular opinion is useless.

Did Something Go Wrong Today?

As you might expect, I give no credence to today’s superstitious date. It was a day like any other day.

In my travels, I heard someone exclaim “Is it Friday, the 13th? You know I didn’t even know that!”, and proceeded to blame his rare mechanical trouble for the day on the date. It was a convenient excuse – to lay blame on the unknown force instead of conceding that some other employee has goofed or that parts had worn out to cause the trouble.

He had just finished telling us about a situation at his job that occurred on January 13 that continued to cause them headaches to this day. However, he did not make the connection that 1-13 was a Saturday. If it had been a Friday, well, you know.

Superstitions are false ways of seeing the world. We have better ways now and should understand that lucky items don’t help us win and certain numbers hold no special powers. They are childish and a waste of time. Indulging in superstition is to ignore reason and perhaps miss something actually important in the context of the event.

If it piques your interest, read more about superstitions – there are some royally ridiculous ones out there. One can’t help but wonder why people thought ringing church bells would protect everyone during a thunderstorm or why people thought that a child would derive protection from whooping cough by riding the back of a trained bear. (?!) We try so hard to find patterns and explanation in the world. Now we have reliable methods. It would have been a better day if someone didn’t try to foist silliness on it.

Source: Hole, Christina and E. and M.A. Radford. “The Encyclopedia of Superstitions”.

Paint It Black and Take It Back

Sigh…

There seems to be nothing exciting going on these days in the paranormal world. Oh, sure there is the current UFO flap that peaked with the O’Hare report and the Black Triangles. But, honestly, I’ve not been keeping up because UFOs don’t grab me (at least one hasn’t grabbed me yet).

All the air has gone out of Cryptomundo for me lately. Are things really so blah or is it just me?

It is Spring (so says the calendar) which may account for the lack of fun stories meant to break up the winter blues. Since a real Spring has yet to appear in the northeastern U.S., many of us are incubating viruses and passing them on. (ah-CHOO!) My daffodils, with their heads hung low, look miserable. Much like how I feel.

As frequently happens to me, I go through phases of interest. Sometimes I go on a writing jag, sometimes I devour books. I’m not in the mood to do either. I’ve been listening to music, been feeling I should pick up the gee-tar again, checking out new tunes in my favorite pop-punk category and adding to my LaLa want list.

Thanks to my current infatuation with My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade, I’ve painted my nails black, texturized my hair and threw out all my wool blazers and turtlenecks. My 3-year old is bopping along in the back seat to Dead! and Famous Last Words

Why do people sing about death? Dress like vampires? Like to watch horror movies? I can’t imagine it so I’d like to know. I’ve always been fascinated by gothic and vampire themes. But, take note: just because it’s really fun to get into these things does not mean that there is any validity to them. Plus, they’re probably unhealthy for your psyche too.

I end this rambling thought-spillage with a parental moment: What will my children use on me to rebel? They can’t get me with the occult/paranormal, heavy metal, punk, goth (“Dye your hair purple? Cool, let’s go!”) Been there, done that. So, perhaps I’ll rue the day my girls become born again Christians who like country music. Then, I’ll know I failed as a parent.

In the spirit of Blog Against Theocracy

In the spirit of Blog Against Theocracy, I’m expressing some thoughts on this theme. Please do not be offended. I am not opposing religion here, just a specific way in which it is used.

My decision to forgo religion in my life has come about from the same process as my decisions to be pro-evolution and (generally) anti-paranormal.

I was raised in a moderate, church-going family where I learned about religion and the Bible before I knew anything about alternative philosophies and views of the world. I learned about Genesis and stored it away, not really needing any deeper meaning until college.

I read and believed lots of first hand accounts of ghosts, UFOs and Bigfoot in popular books. These were all interesting stories delivered to me with certitude.

I credit Stephen Jay Gould’s books with turning on the light in my brain. He could take something that appeared straightforward (to me) and peel away the surface to reveal hidden agendas, misguided thinking and really baseless assumptions. The seed of doubt was planted and it grew heartily. The view of the world and everything in it changed for me. I can’t imagine how little I would understand of nature and my place in it if I had continued to utilize only those childhood stories.

While many start out the same way as I did, with Sunday school and only basic science education, it’s obvious that not many people go on to investigate what we know and how we know it. I waivered back and forth, like a pendulum, swinging between belief and unbelief in religion and paranormal phenomena. I am now at a place with which I am comfortable. It’s OK to say “I don’t know.” I am becoming secure in my reasoning and feel content with my personal values and ethics. Evidence guides my decisions. I am not credulous. You are likely not telling me the whole truth.

In order to understand and truly appreciate, life – mine and others – I do not need the concept of a personal god or explanations outside of the realm of human knowledge. I certainly do not need the catch-all, irrefutable hypotheses such as “God did it”, it was “God’s will” or that it is beyond human understanding or intelligence.

Even if you are a religious person, you must respect that science and reason have gotten us far in this world. Science is our best method of finding things out. It may not be perfect but, like Democracy, it appears to be the best method we’ve got. In both, it is best to keep religion out of the equation.

That’s why I recently wrote my congressmen loudly voicing my disgust over the current administration’s frequent acts of white-washing scientific reports and censoring governmental scientists because the facts led them to conclusions that are distasteful to the Republican agenda. From birth control methods to global warming, natural resource reserves to endangered species – this administration is completely devoid of reason and integrity. Instead, it appears they believe that humans have every right to plunder the earth. It’s ordained by God! Their faith is of utmost importance.

That’s despicable and entirely un-American. I am livid. How dare they judge themselves superior and privileged over other peoples and cultures and over all other life on the planet. They take no personal responsibility. They only take more money and power. If their god thinks that’s OK, that god doesn’t deserve worship from me.

I don’t feel like hedging my bets and believing in a god just because it couldn’t hurt. It can hurt. If you live your life thinking you must first serve a higher being rather than the greater good of your fellow humans and animals, you fail to adequately respect and serve those of the present and completely disregard prospects for the future. You fail to be a responsible human being. You fail.

Mr. President, you fail.