On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 2:02 AM, Cor van de Water via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org>wrote:
> Hi Michael, > I don't think anyone here is mad at you - I am certainly not. Michael, .... Same here, what Cor said. People come at this from different perspectives. Here's mine. Every living thing is self-centered. That's how life continues to survive. We humans are craftier than most. We can protect our own interests using deception like other species, but we can do it on a much grander scale. When you combine that ability with our creative minds and opposable thumbs, the damage we can do is truly staggering. I don't think I'm alone in noticing the deception is getting worse. In politics, religion, advertising, the lies are getting bigger and bolder. In today's information-dense society the lies spread faster and people are far less likely to question them. People think there isn't enough time, so they don't even bother to run a new bit of "information" past a quick sniff test - which would expose many of the lies. Many people prefer belief over fact (assuming it supports their view of the world), so they are all-too-willing to selectively skip the sniff test. A wise man once advised to be careful what you let into your head - it can be very difficult to get it out. In today's world, we need to add that if it gets into your head and it's wrong you'll probably spread it before you find out, which makes it much easier for the liars to win. So when I see a lie, especially a big whopper like the one you brought up, I tend to smack it down hard. I agree that even a lie can bring useful perspective, maybe even insight, but it is still a lie and needs to be clearly called out as such. No exceptions. We also need to be very careful about sanctifying what we think we know. A recent discussion showed a near-universal opposition to FCEVs. I share that view, but I would hope that all of us would turn on a dime and support FCEVs if they ever become economically/environmentally viable. Few of us can see that ever happening, but we need to remember that closed-mindedness can be just as damaging as lying. The FCEV discussion is a good example of how we poor stupid humans are still acting like animals. The law of the jungle says you compete - which we are now doing with the believers, skeptics and various players protecting their own interests by trading barbs (and lies) and vying for development grants. If we were a more advanced species we would focus on the most efficient use of energy and the maximum benefit for all humankind - now and for future generations. That kind of evaluation might stop FCEV development dead in its tracks. Or it might focus on the real roadblocks, leading us in new directions toward real breakthroughs. So that's a long-winded backstory to explain the harshness of my response. I didn't mean to offend, but I think it's really important to expose the lies we see every day. It's one of the best tools we have to advance our society. Chris Ego is what separates us from the higher species. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140527/72dc60f4/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
