Saturday, January 10, 2009

resolutions

So, yellowstone is going to blow soon and the sun hasn't spotted in itself in months.

Why am suddenly jumping on the apopcalypse bandwagon?

I don't know, but it's a shitty way to be.

Conspiracy theorists are lucky people. They sit in their mediocre lives happy in the belief that they must lay low in order to outrun their other, much more dangerous lives.

The two are only vaguely linked I guess, even in my type happy head.


But, the letter writing thing is going well. So far.

I have urges to be passive aggressive to people and stop. This is my contribution to a more rational world.

1 comment:

Bob O said...

Well, I think you need to differentiate between scientific observertion and it's commensurate deductive reasoning process that allows one to draw conclusions about the past and present, and make predictions and forecasts about the future; and whacko-nut-job conspiracy theorists who base their beliefs on faith.

This is the same contrast one can draw between science and, say, organized religion.

In fact, one could make a case that organized religion is a conspiracy theory. The two schools of belief share most of the same tenets--and neither can produce tangible, observable, measurable evidence that their beliefs are credible.

For example, Alien Abduction Conspiracy Theorists have just as much evidence to support their beliefs as do ((name an organized religion here)).

On the other hand, it has been proven that the Yellowstone Caldera is the dormant site of a volcano that was extremely destructive on several occasions in the distant and not-so-distant past; this leads to the probability that it will be so again in the future.

A decreasing number of Sun Spots directly correlates to global cooling, an interesting and observable phenomonon. Take a look at the data gathered over the past few centuries and draw your own conclusions. Be aware that we are currently in the midst of a solar minimum.

Are these conspiracy theories? No. They are observations and conclusions about the world around you that will allow you to make informed decisions about what to do with your life.

Will knowing about Yellowstone's geologic history be of any help to you? Probably not. Will know about the recent solar minimum lead you to a better decision. Maybe, if your on the fence about anthropogenic Global Warming, i.e., Climate Change (btw the way, did you see all those journalists throwing their shoes at Al Gore during Obama's Inauguration? Man! It was cold out there!). It may also have more of a bearing on your life if, for example, you live in a semi-arid part of North America like, say, Oklahoma...correlate sunspots with annual rainfall west of the 100th meridian....

Hmmmm......