At times over the past few years I have heard or read someone making the assertion that denying Climate Change Science was either in some way part of or logically derived from Libertarian philosophy. I have decided to write a blog post explaining the situation.
The simple point is that the Libertarian philosophy has nothing to say about the accuracy of any aspect of Climate Change Science either in agreement or disagreement. There is no Libertarian position on Climate Change Science because the accuracy or inaccuracy of Climate Change Science is not a Libertarian issue just as there is not a Libertarian position on Punctuated Equilibrium or String Theory. Questions about Climate Change Science are properly addressed by persons who can apply specialized knowledge in the various branches of physics, chemistry and other fields to the study of the climate, oceans, etc.
Consider the two statements: 'I was talking to someone who said they were a Libertarian and they said that String Theory is true' and 'I was talking to someone who said they were a Libertarian and they said that String Theory is false'. Neither of these statements tell us anything about the Libertarian philosophy because there is no way to derive a position about whether String Theory is true or false from Libertarian philosophy. And anyone who claims that they can derive a position on either String Theory or Climate Change Science from the Libertarian philosophy is just misguided. The Libertarian philosophy is not engaged in doing physics, chemistry or similar matters rather it uses their outputs. The Libertarian Philosophy deals with issues of liberty and human interaction. So no matter what institute, politician or random person starts on about how the Libertarian philosophy leads to positions about Climate Change Science they can just be considered as mistaken and uninformed.
Now it is possible for someone to ask that even though a position either denying or affirming the current state of Climate Change Science can not be derived from Libertarian Philosophy what opinions do Libertarians hold? That is difficult to answer for many reasons not the least of which is even agreeing on who is and who is not a Libertarian. For example I am a Libertarian but I am not a member of the Libertarian Party and I am not a Ron Paul supporter. As far as I know there has been no well developed credible polling to determine the opinions of well informed Libertarians on Climate Change Science or String Theory or any similar issue probably because as I said these are not Libertarian issues and possibly because Libertarians are a difficult to sample group. Certainly Climate Change Science has greater potential consequences for humans on this planet so it would be a more important poll than String Theory. However I did find based on my personal observations on a Libertarian email list most on the list who stated an opinion tended to accept the current Climate Change Science. How much this limited sample generalizes I do not know.
However this still leaves the question of why does this confusion arise. I do not have a complete explanation but I have a couple of observations which when linked together might explain part of the situation. The first observation is that there are a bunch of people claiming to be Libertarian when they are not and this is particularly bothersome because often these people have only a shallow and often incorrect knowledge of Libertarian philosophy. Queue the Dunning–Kruger effect because these people often tend to be vocal. It is often difficult to easily distinguish between those you are merely uniformed and those who are being deliberately deceptive. However both my experience and my desire is that what is being observed is a lack of knowledge rather than a lack of honesty.
The second observation is that unfortunaly science issues have been and continue to be politicized often by those who see a particular scientific development as a convenient way to advance a political position or as a threat to a political position. In either case it is inappropriate. For example it is inappropriate to proclaim that climate change science is correct because of a political position desiring a particular type of government control of the energy industry. And it is equally inappropriate to proclaim that Climate Change Science is incorrect because a political position of wanting a different type of control over the energy industry. Unfortunately when one side of a political disagreement attempts to take the accuracy or inaccuracy of some science question out of the science arena and into the political arena then the temptation is for the other side of the argument to respond in kind. T think that perhaps this is part but certainly not all of what we are seeing now.
The obvious extension of point above is that questions of the accuracy or inaccuracy of any part of Climate Change Science should not be considered as deriving from any political philosophy. Science and political philosophy are distinct endeavors; political philosophy might utilize the knowledge generated by science but it does not determine that knowledge. And of course science is not always perfect but it is more likely to be self-correcting if politics is kept out of the process.
At this point the reader might be wondering why end with the point about science and political philosophy instead of starting with a discussion of science and political philosophy as a general point and then noting that Libertarian philosophy is a particular case of political philosophy. One reason I took the approach that I did was that I felt it might be more engaging for the reader to start with the specific rather than the general case.
Readers will notice that I have used the term Climate Change Science rather than the more common term Climate Change. The reason for this is that I wanted to very specifically distinguish between the science question of what is happening "Climate Change Science" and the policy recommendations and responses which I refer to as "Climate Change Response Policy". These are two different activities. Certainly "Climate Change Response Policy" will use the knowledge generated by "Climate Change Science" but "Climate Change Response Policy" will also utilize anthropology, sociology, business, economics, all of the other appropriate scholarly fields and yes this is where political philosophy is included.
2012-03-22
Rock and Roll history and the FBI
This comment is based on my reaction to an article in BBC Online Newsmagazine
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17440514
about the March 21, 1952 concert in Cleveland Ohio. Considered to be the first Rock and Roll concert by historians it went horribly wrong when tickets for a later event were not printed correctly and many people showed up at an already full concert. The article is an interesting read just for its historical value however what caught me attention were a couple of items about Alan Freed who was a co-organiser of the event.
A few years later Alan Freed had his nationally ABC television network show cancelled because a black performer (Frankie Lymon) danced with a white young lady on stage which offended some Southern affiliates. Just one more reminder that racism in one part of a country can have negative consequences for the rest. It is good that the USA has progressed beyond that level of racism however it is important to remember that there are still many areas for improvement. And not only with racism but also there is much room for improvement on gender, LGBT and related issues.
And for absolutely no good reason the FBI ran by J. Edgar Hoover had Alan Freed under surveillance. According to the article is was because the FBI deemed the records that Freed played to be a threat. A threat to what? J. Edgar Hoover was more of a threat to a diverse and interesting culture and to basic human liberty. Whether it was tracking Dr. King or tracking people in the entrainment industry it is clear that Hoover and his minions in the FBI engaged in actions that can be described as vile and despicable. Perhaps a good reminder should be sent to the FBI and the rest of the government by having an policy that any building owned or controlled by any government agency which is named after or commemorates J. Edgar Hoover should be renamed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17440514
about the March 21, 1952 concert in Cleveland Ohio. Considered to be the first Rock and Roll concert by historians it went horribly wrong when tickets for a later event were not printed correctly and many people showed up at an already full concert. The article is an interesting read just for its historical value however what caught me attention were a couple of items about Alan Freed who was a co-organiser of the event.
A few years later Alan Freed had his nationally ABC television network show cancelled because a black performer (Frankie Lymon) danced with a white young lady on stage which offended some Southern affiliates. Just one more reminder that racism in one part of a country can have negative consequences for the rest. It is good that the USA has progressed beyond that level of racism however it is important to remember that there are still many areas for improvement. And not only with racism but also there is much room for improvement on gender, LGBT and related issues.
And for absolutely no good reason the FBI ran by J. Edgar Hoover had Alan Freed under surveillance. According to the article is was because the FBI deemed the records that Freed played to be a threat. A threat to what? J. Edgar Hoover was more of a threat to a diverse and interesting culture and to basic human liberty. Whether it was tracking Dr. King or tracking people in the entrainment industry it is clear that Hoover and his minions in the FBI engaged in actions that can be described as vile and despicable. Perhaps a good reminder should be sent to the FBI and the rest of the government by having an policy that any building owned or controlled by any government agency which is named after or commemorates J. Edgar Hoover should be renamed.
2012-03-03
Notes about the Potlatch Panel on Collapse Fiction
As I mentioned previously I was invited to be part of a panel discussing Collapse Fiction at the Potlatch SF Convention held recently in Seattle. I made some preparatory notes about collapse fiction and I am updating it with some specific comments about various works: http://blog.lightingonemorecandle.com/2012/02/considering-sf-societal-collapse-and.html
Prior to the start of the panel I placed a small audio in my shirt pocket for several reasons; first that I a record of actions or emails or other commitments; second it is often good to listen to yourself in order to improve your presentation skills and thirdly just in case I said worth following up on later this would keep track of it. I had expected the recorder to primarily pick up my voice and I was not intending to record the entire panel. I felt the panel was very successful and I was really glad I was able to be on the panel.
Reviewing the audio I found that not only had it picked up my voice but also much of the other comments from the other panelists as well as some of the audience. The audio quality is terrible but just good enough after listening to it multiple time in some sections 4 or 5 times I think I have been able to put together a set of notes covering some of the high points of the hour long session. In general the notes are in order although in a couple of cases when a comment is specific to a previous comment I have placed following rather than out of sequence. I have made my best effort for accuracy and have in a couple of cases used three question marks (???) to indicate uncertainty. In some cases I was able to identify the speaker but in many cases I was unsure so to avoid incorrect attributions I have decided not to identify any speakers. And to answer the obvious question: Do I plan to post the audio? No the quality is very poor so it is really not worthwhile plus I do not know what Potlatch 21 has in place regarding publication of recordings.
It should be obvious but I will make it explicit: These are just my best effort to record the comments, questions and general discussions for that one hour in Seattle. I am not claiming they are accurate. They do not necessarily represent my views. They are here with no promises and no guarantees.
NOTES FROM THE COLLAPSE FICTION PANEL
Many collapse fiction novels do not deal with all of the aftermath issues
Consider how collapse fiction talks about our fears
Is our current society made artificially stable by violence on individuals
but not providing communitarian functions?
How do societies improve on societies as rebuilt?
How is improvement envisioned?
One person mentioned being more interested in an incipient utopia rather than a dystopia.
How does recovery conflict with individual liberties?
Buckminster Fuller book Enough To Go Around
Contrast of endogenous and exogenous impacts.
Contrast with Earth Abides with speaker did not like, felt that Canticle for L
was more hopeful book
What were forces used in rebuilding such as religion, gender roles, military force,
looking toward the stars, etc
In some novels such as Lucifer's Hammer they protagonists get knocked down, bounce, roll, get back up and start rebuilding.
Comment that in one of the Lois McMaster Bujold the society was not based on what we would consider democracy because the people said they had tried that and did not like it.
Many collapse books gloss over the painful transition period, one work with does deal with this is the book Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald.
Issue of how much we have already used resources.
One solution is to live next to a dump for relatively easy supply of metals such as aluminum in beverage cans.
Some narratives start with an assmption about evolution and change that might no be correct particularly as related to social organization with might not support everyone to the extent desired. Is the way that these narratives sell a particular vision of who to rebuild normal? Just like Hollywood tries to sell a particular concept of romance we need to ask if it was normal would they really need to sell it.
Even rebuilding stories such as in series such as the John Varley Severn Worlds series or Anne McCafferies Pern Series have a nonsustainable 'just keep extracting resources' senario
Some political revolution narratives are the other side of the collapse narrative consider the Suzy McKee Charnas Holdfast series or the Timmel Duchamp Marq'ssan Cycle series.
Some collapse novels have an element of manifest destiny that we can just leave garbage behind. Humorours interjection: Only if there is a cute robot to recycle it.
How do you draw the boundary of the society and what comes after the collapse? Is there a continuity or not. For example Charles Stross novel Saturn's Children in which the biological carbon based humans have died out but the non-carbon based lifeforms have much of the same memetic and cultural heritage.
Some books mentioned about people making their way with different approaches
Parable of The Sower by Octabia Butler
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Farnhams Freehold by Heinlein depicts a future based on race relation resentment
At the time people building fallout shelters
Heinlein says you can not keep all genetic eggs in one basket
There are issues with the ruler in the future being depicted as a dark skinned black man who is cannablistic and who wants to have non concentual sex with the white women from the past
Also
Sharing Knive by Bujold
Andre Norton Star Rangers books
Need to consider how we use resources recycable such as aluminum versus use it once such as petroleum.
Don't expect to get rich mining the astrodes due to advances microbiolgical mining on earth mine talings
So in case a collapse starts it is important to protect microbiological labs and knowledge
Nonfiction book Collapse by Diamond
???Dorothy Dunnett in the book ??? used the image of "collapsed like an overtaxed weightlifter"
The second chapter of "The Highway Men" by Ken MacLeod is a very gripping depiction of how through mistaken assumptions and a rush to war a couple of simple misunderstandings can lead to war.
Hierarchy of levels for society analogous to the Maslow Heirarchy for individuals. A society can have a collapse at the memetic and intellectual culture level. This leads us to consider the opening lines of Howl by Allen Ginsberg which depict Ginsberg's conserns about destruction of the best minds of a generation. Yet there were those who viewed this work of Ginsberg along with other works and social commentators such as Lenny Bruce as being a sign of and contributing to social collapse. Issues of perspective and context.
In a collapse books preserved as opposed to electronics which is an issue for ebooks.
Book "Wolf and Iron"
What about when you have resources but not information
Sometimes information is inplicit in a physical object related to usage and construction
Kurt Vonnegut novels depict three types of collapse
Player Piano - Societal issues
Cat's Cradel - End of the world
The Sirens of Titan - About Rebuilding
Interest in societal collapse literature in English speaking world due to the teaching about fall of roman empire. For some in the so called "third world" there is the experience of colonialism. Some third world narratives might read like Science Fiction. Consider novels about the African Holocaust.
Example the novel Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah
Roman republic was used as a model for the forming of repubic of the USA so the Roman republic falsly has weight; such as the fall of Roman Empire not analogous to USA
Consider that an electrical generator was redeveloped early in Canticle For Leibowitz
If there is an Intersteller civilization and there is a collapse with lose of interstller communication to what levels would the society fall and then rebuild
It takes only one and half generation to lose knowledge ie organic farming
In reading 1491 we see Catholic monks buring natives books and artifacts so that there would not be a rebuilding.
We already have data recovery, equipment and knowledge issue with computers now. Recovering images from old tapes is an issue.
Novels about rebuilding in terms communitarianism
various books by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Gate to Women's Country by Tepper
Holdfast series including Walk To the End of World by Charnas
Women on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Contrast with Lucifer's Hammer which rebuilds as before
Issue with looking for a society which works for everyone is that human nature is human nature.
Poul Anderson Orion Shall Rise
Story by Ursula Le Guin Solitude
What about time length of a few thousand years
The Last and First Men by Stapledon
Foundation Trilogy by Asimov
Time Machine by Wells
To rebuild appears to be a human drive. What about narratives where it is not possible to rebuild.
We who are about to by Joanna Russ we are about to
Book Directive 51 by John Barnes
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Greatwinter Trilogy by Sean McMullen
Sherwood Smith series about advancing glaciers narrowing temperate zone
Narratives tend to be about individuals so that constrains the narrative to about 100 years and what survives us is culture
What collapse fiction has been written recently beside the Hunger Games books
Directive 51 by John Barnes
Paulo Bacigalupi
Scott Westerfeld
The Highway Man by Ken MacLeod
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Comment about scene in We Who are About To
where a man comments to a woman about having babies to continue civilization and the woman says No. Civilization will continue just fine out there.
Stories by Janet Kagan
Theme of collapse fiction; what have we lost; what can we regain
The idea that something is going to happen and we have no control might lead us to not consider sustainable models. There is the aphorism: No single drop of water feels the blame for the flood.
The Last Letter by Fiona Lehn
In rebuilding a society that is kinder and more sustainable and which will work and continue to work you need to have someone at the elbow of those doing the rebuilding to protect from those who want to grab power. Again and again we see that those with power tend not to give it up.
Prior to the start of the panel I placed a small audio in my shirt pocket for several reasons; first that I a record of actions or emails or other commitments; second it is often good to listen to yourself in order to improve your presentation skills and thirdly just in case I said worth following up on later this would keep track of it. I had expected the recorder to primarily pick up my voice and I was not intending to record the entire panel. I felt the panel was very successful and I was really glad I was able to be on the panel.
Reviewing the audio I found that not only had it picked up my voice but also much of the other comments from the other panelists as well as some of the audience. The audio quality is terrible but just good enough after listening to it multiple time in some sections 4 or 5 times I think I have been able to put together a set of notes covering some of the high points of the hour long session. In general the notes are in order although in a couple of cases when a comment is specific to a previous comment I have placed following rather than out of sequence. I have made my best effort for accuracy and have in a couple of cases used three question marks (???) to indicate uncertainty. In some cases I was able to identify the speaker but in many cases I was unsure so to avoid incorrect attributions I have decided not to identify any speakers. And to answer the obvious question: Do I plan to post the audio? No the quality is very poor so it is really not worthwhile plus I do not know what Potlatch 21 has in place regarding publication of recordings.
It should be obvious but I will make it explicit: These are just my best effort to record the comments, questions and general discussions for that one hour in Seattle. I am not claiming they are accurate. They do not necessarily represent my views. They are here with no promises and no guarantees.
NOTES FROM THE COLLAPSE FICTION PANEL
Many collapse fiction novels do not deal with all of the aftermath issues
Consider how collapse fiction talks about our fears
Is our current society made artificially stable by violence on individuals
but not providing communitarian functions?
How do societies improve on societies as rebuilt?
How is improvement envisioned?
One person mentioned being more interested in an incipient utopia rather than a dystopia.
How does recovery conflict with individual liberties?
Buckminster Fuller book Enough To Go Around
Contrast of endogenous and exogenous impacts.
Contrast with Earth Abides with speaker did not like, felt that Canticle for L
was more hopeful book
What were forces used in rebuilding such as religion, gender roles, military force,
looking toward the stars, etc
In some novels such as Lucifer's Hammer they protagonists get knocked down, bounce, roll, get back up and start rebuilding.
Comment that in one of the Lois McMaster Bujold the society was not based on what we would consider democracy because the people said they had tried that and did not like it.
Many collapse books gloss over the painful transition period, one work with does deal with this is the book Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald.
Issue of how much we have already used resources.
One solution is to live next to a dump for relatively easy supply of metals such as aluminum in beverage cans.
Some narratives start with an assmption about evolution and change that might no be correct particularly as related to social organization with might not support everyone to the extent desired. Is the way that these narratives sell a particular vision of who to rebuild normal? Just like Hollywood tries to sell a particular concept of romance we need to ask if it was normal would they really need to sell it.
Even rebuilding stories such as in series such as the John Varley Severn Worlds series or Anne McCafferies Pern Series have a nonsustainable 'just keep extracting resources' senario
Some political revolution narratives are the other side of the collapse narrative consider the Suzy McKee Charnas Holdfast series or the Timmel Duchamp Marq'ssan Cycle series.
Some collapse novels have an element of manifest destiny that we can just leave garbage behind. Humorours interjection: Only if there is a cute robot to recycle it.
How do you draw the boundary of the society and what comes after the collapse? Is there a continuity or not. For example Charles Stross novel Saturn's Children in which the biological carbon based humans have died out but the non-carbon based lifeforms have much of the same memetic and cultural heritage.
Some books mentioned about people making their way with different approaches
Parable of The Sower by Octabia Butler
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Farnhams Freehold by Heinlein depicts a future based on race relation resentment
At the time people building fallout shelters
Heinlein says you can not keep all genetic eggs in one basket
There are issues with the ruler in the future being depicted as a dark skinned black man who is cannablistic and who wants to have non concentual sex with the white women from the past
Also
Sharing Knive by Bujold
Andre Norton Star Rangers books
Need to consider how we use resources recycable such as aluminum versus use it once such as petroleum.
Don't expect to get rich mining the astrodes due to advances microbiolgical mining on earth mine talings
So in case a collapse starts it is important to protect microbiological labs and knowledge
Nonfiction book Collapse by Diamond
???Dorothy Dunnett in the book ??? used the image of "collapsed like an overtaxed weightlifter"
The second chapter of "The Highway Men" by Ken MacLeod is a very gripping depiction of how through mistaken assumptions and a rush to war a couple of simple misunderstandings can lead to war.
Hierarchy of levels for society analogous to the Maslow Heirarchy for individuals. A society can have a collapse at the memetic and intellectual culture level. This leads us to consider the opening lines of Howl by Allen Ginsberg which depict Ginsberg's conserns about destruction of the best minds of a generation. Yet there were those who viewed this work of Ginsberg along with other works and social commentators such as Lenny Bruce as being a sign of and contributing to social collapse. Issues of perspective and context.
In a collapse books preserved as opposed to electronics which is an issue for ebooks.
Book "Wolf and Iron"
What about when you have resources but not information
Sometimes information is inplicit in a physical object related to usage and construction
Kurt Vonnegut novels depict three types of collapse
Player Piano - Societal issues
Cat's Cradel - End of the world
The Sirens of Titan - About Rebuilding
Interest in societal collapse literature in English speaking world due to the teaching about fall of roman empire. For some in the so called "third world" there is the experience of colonialism. Some third world narratives might read like Science Fiction. Consider novels about the African Holocaust.
Example the novel Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah
Roman republic was used as a model for the forming of repubic of the USA so the Roman republic falsly has weight; such as the fall of Roman Empire not analogous to USA
Consider that an electrical generator was redeveloped early in Canticle For Leibowitz
If there is an Intersteller civilization and there is a collapse with lose of interstller communication to what levels would the society fall and then rebuild
It takes only one and half generation to lose knowledge ie organic farming
In reading 1491 we see Catholic monks buring natives books and artifacts so that there would not be a rebuilding.
We already have data recovery, equipment and knowledge issue with computers now. Recovering images from old tapes is an issue.
Novels about rebuilding in terms communitarianism
various books by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Gate to Women's Country by Tepper
Holdfast series including Walk To the End of World by Charnas
Women on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Contrast with Lucifer's Hammer which rebuilds as before
Issue with looking for a society which works for everyone is that human nature is human nature.
Poul Anderson Orion Shall Rise
Story by Ursula Le Guin Solitude
What about time length of a few thousand years
The Last and First Men by Stapledon
Foundation Trilogy by Asimov
Time Machine by Wells
To rebuild appears to be a human drive. What about narratives where it is not possible to rebuild.
We who are about to by Joanna Russ we are about to
Book Directive 51 by John Barnes
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Greatwinter Trilogy by Sean McMullen
Sherwood Smith series about advancing glaciers narrowing temperate zone
Narratives tend to be about individuals so that constrains the narrative to about 100 years and what survives us is culture
What collapse fiction has been written recently beside the Hunger Games books
Directive 51 by John Barnes
Paulo Bacigalupi
Scott Westerfeld
The Highway Man by Ken MacLeod
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Comment about scene in We Who are About To
where a man comments to a woman about having babies to continue civilization and the woman says No. Civilization will continue just fine out there.
Stories by Janet Kagan
Theme of collapse fiction; what have we lost; what can we regain
The idea that something is going to happen and we have no control might lead us to not consider sustainable models. There is the aphorism: No single drop of water feels the blame for the flood.
The Last Letter by Fiona Lehn
In rebuilding a society that is kinder and more sustainable and which will work and continue to work you need to have someone at the elbow of those doing the rebuilding to protect from those who want to grab power. Again and again we see that those with power tend not to give it up.
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