thoughts from a bench

[saw]

two old friends sitting on a park bench
when the conversation veers from small talk
to deeper dives into our lives thus far, I say
Carl Sagan called it intellectual chauvinism
the assertion that we know all the laws of physics
science for instance is merely a tool in the box
not a trump card to slam down on the table
I dig its importance old friend but not all concepts
can be lumped together with Nessie and Bigfoot
in my mind are competing narratives, and I understand
it's comforting to " Know" all the rules, that's why religions
come with a book, and sometimes art is just too weird
for people's sensibilities, quite often the existing paradigm
is quick to scoff, ridicule the new kid on the block,
I'm just saying old chum, don't let it scare you, for there
is consciouness that does not reside in your brain...fear not
nothing changes when we leave this place either, the sun
will still try to rise and set as folks are expecting them to
It was good to see you again , share the years that got away
from us, the wisdom of time that has seeped through our fingers
the truth we carved from different places on earth
you seem to be in a good place, so sorry I ran off at the mouth
I can not claim to know the secrets of the universe
there is no right or wrong really, just two old codgers sitting
on a bench...oh...but maybe we do not even exist, and maybe
there is no bench

[sasha]

science isn't a corpus of knowledge - it's a process
it's a way to amass that corpus
not necessarily THE way - ANOTHER way
more efficient than some -
a way to systematize trial & error...
and we who've adopted it are guilty
of failing to discard the raiments of Truth
that pop culture has naively draped around us...
it seduced me at an early age
and now, if I'm honest, I admit
it was that image, more than the quest,
that fulfilled me - like most of us, I suspect
only the greatest among us -
the high priests whose names everyone knows -
deserve that title
it's not that our work was without value -
just that some of it might now
be a bit overpriced...

[saw]

along these lines..... anecdotal evidence is often scoffed at by certain science based determinations....but it's important to not simply ignore reports that stir things up...for instance like Love Canal.....or side effects from certain drugs....the powers that be often don't want further studies that distract their profits....so it' often incumbent upon us ordinary citizens to push back when we smell a rat....in these cases, the big boys are using " their science " to dismiss you

[sasha]

You're right, of course - except maybe for one word: that they're weaponizing "THEIR" science. Those powers that be aren't doing the work - they're cherrypicking, (mis)quoting what they've (mis)read in the popular press's (mis)interpretation of peer-reviewed journals, for their own political or financial gain. Not many billionaire bench chemists, field biologists, or industrial physicists out there. (Sorry, had to include that last one - shameless plug.) I have no doubt that there are whores among the rank & file research class - most professions have them. But the moguls who hire them are all too aware of the white-coat mystique, and not above skewing what little they actually know about the subject for favorable numbers on the next fiscal quarter's summary report. And I'm sure that even academia is susceptible to the rot - the "Publish or Perish" mentality. Gotta keep those alumni dollars flowin' in.

[saw]

From essays in the Demon-Haunted World ( Science a Candle in the Dark )

" One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been babboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the babboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. "

.......Carl Sagan......

He could have written this yesterday

[sasha]

Ain't that the truth. Fake News! Climate Change is a Hoax! Science Sez That Bumblebees Can't Fly! Horse Tranquilizers Will Cure Covid! ... Drill, Baby, Drill...

Sagan had that rare balance of intellectual rigor and spirituality...