Ken Stange

Political Pseudoscience (2015-04-01)

Strong political views do not make good viewfinders when it comes to examining evidence. Many right wing views on science are obviously wildly distorted, with creationism and global climate change denial being obvious examples. But the left also can be shown to need new glasses—or at least to need to take their blinders off.  Here are three examples of where science has given us powerful and useful tools, yet many ‘right thinking’ and ‘left leaning’ people have a knee-jerk aversion to objectively examining the evidence.

THAT DIABOLICAL NUCLEAR ENERGY

Don’t even suggest that it may not be a useful source of relatively clean energy. Sure, there are better sources, but there are worse ones—the current ones.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/06/pandora_s_promise_producer_nuclear_energy_is_necessary_to_fight_climate.html

THAT DIABOLICAL GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD

Who would want to eat “Frankenfood”? A lot of people. It beats not having anything to eat at all, a problem in a lot of third world countries.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2013/05/01/esteemed-journal-nature-dedicates-issue-to-gmos-defends-technology/#.UdRJORZXvd5

THAT DIABOLICAL VACCINATION

No qualifications here. The opposition to vaccination is frightening. It’s ‘unnatural’ to inject a foreign agent into our bodies. It’s bad enough that fluoridated municipal water and iodized salt sneak ‘chemicals’ into our bodies. Infectious disease, tooth decay, and goitre are definitely more ‘natural’. Right?

http://www.skepdic.com/antivaccination.html

The above is reprinted from my July 12, 2015 posting on my “Your Man Friday’s Ideas” blog.    

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Backasswards Blogs: Pros and Cons (2015-04-03)

Positive: Presenting entries in reverse chronological order means the reader will always encounter the latest entry upon visiting the website. This is of special value if the blog has to do with current events or developments.

Negative: If there is a logical sequence to a series of individual blog entries, as there is in when presenting an argument or telling a story, obviously this would be like making the reader read the article or story backwards.

My approach: I’ve conformed to this convention, even though I may deal with a similar theme for a sequence of blog postings. In that case, I try to make each posting capable of standing alone. And in the archive of each month I present the posting in regular chronological order. This method suits the nature of my blogs and is an attempt to take advantage of both the positive and negative features of order of presentation.

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Interactive Blogs: Pros and Cons (2015-04-05)

Positive: Involving the readership increases the readership.

Negative: Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and most stink. The empirical proof of this is there in the comments section below any blog (or website) that allows comments. This is even true of sites with consistently worthwhile content. I suppose it could be a case of biased sampling, in that the majority of people who use these comments sections to air their views are a special case: idiots with too much time on their hands. Another problem is these comments sections are easy prey for spammers.

My approach: My blogs don’t have a section for readers to post comments. Those who feel they have something significant they wish to share with me, or think I might want to pass on to my readers, can take the trouble to send me a literate email.

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Good Blogs (2015-04-07)

Finding a blog (or a book, for that matter) worthy of one’s attention is like looking for a needle in a haystack. And the haystack is inevitably much bigger when it comes to blogs. A good method is to follow up on connections and recommendations—and to look for associations with already known to be worthwhile websites. Here are some personal examples.

I’m interested in contemporary poetry, and I know I poet, Michael Dennis, who runs a blog reviewing and presenting samples of recent quality poetry books. Given how hard it is even to find contemporary poetry books to browse, this is a site I find worth visiting frequently.
http://michaeldennispoet.blogspot.ca

I’m interested in new science reporting from a reliable source. I’m not knowledgeable enough to understand—or understand the significance of—research papers in every field of science, found in journals in like Nature and Science. However, I am knowledgeable enough in scientific methodology to want good science reporting, preferably with references cited. Here is a site with links to numerous good science blogs. http://scienceblogs.com

Certain writers I’ve read and appreciated maintain a blog, and I’m naturally interested in their activities, thoughts, and recommendations. One person, who writes about and exposes ‘bad science’ is Ben Goldacre. I admire his smart, hard-headed scientific critiques of stuff that too often passes for real scientific findings.
http://www.badscience.net/about-dr-ben-goldacre/    

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Unsaved Saviour (2015-04-09)

They say a change is as good as a rest. I’ve been taking a break from writing by spending some time working on digital art. It’s been a year since I created a new series. So now I’m pleased to say I have created a new ‘Construction’ (my 99^th) that I’m pleased with. It’s a diptych entitled “Unsaved Saviour”.

The 2 works are about the futility of faith. Father doesn’t hear your pleas and doesn’t answer for the obvious reason that he is long dead.

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Crown Of Silence (2015-04-11)

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Someone’s Home Here (2015-06-21)

I’m back, having made some serious progress with various projects. One thing I completed is my 100^th ‘construction’.  It’s my 100th series of digital art!

“The ache for home lives in all of us.” (Maya Angelou) And our conception of home is as varied as our definition of happiness. These three works are just examples of this diversity.”

Construction 100: Home Sweet Homes

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Decadent Docile (2015-06-23)

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Nobody Reads That Stuff (2015-06-25)

Another project I’ve been working on since took a break from these blog entries is a new collection of poetry, tentatively titled DiVerse Dedications. Every time I concentrate on writing poetry, I can’t help but wonder why. Of course, why we do whatever we do is hard to pin down—and our explanations are usually more rationalizations than real reasons. But my justification for writing that serves me well enough is to be read. (I have no illusions about fame or fortune.) But the fact that almost nobody reads poetry anymore makes that rationalization incredibly unbelievable. The audience I have for my other writing isn’t exactly a crowd scene, but it is by comparison to my poetry.

So naturally I’ve been thinking a lot about poetry—its value, its nature, and its diminished role in people’s lives.  I also have been cleaning up my manuscript files and have noticed how often I’ve dealt with the very idea of poetry. So I think I’ll use this blog for a while to air some of my ruminations—and, as usual, rant a bit.

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Another Reason For The Scarcity Of Readers (2015-06-27)

“Life is simple. Poems are difficult.” —Hippokrites

Life you just live; you can’t help it unless you commit suicide. Poems, on the other hand, make demands on you and so are easy to ignore.

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We Don’t Like Being Imposed Upon (2015-06-29)

“Good poems presume great readers.  The presumption of great poems is boundless.” —Hippokrites

Unfortunately, most people aren’t even competent readers.

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