>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net [mailto:owner-dakota-
>truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of Rick Barnes
>Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 7:53 PM
>To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
>Subject: RE: DML: RE: DML Gas Prices
>
>
>You should read, "State of Fear" by Michael Creighton, it would make
you
>change your thinking about those "environmental concerns"...hogwash.
>
>Rascal
>
Of course caring for the environment is "hogwash" if one's source of
understanding is in the form of a fictional work of literature! There
is a vast body of scientific work supporting both sides of this issue,
and to subscribe to only one viewpoint, like Crichton does in "State of
Fear", is to be intellectually dishonest. If those of us who would like
to use our resources responsibly are wrong about our ability to harm the
planet, then what have you lost? Maybe a few bucks. If the
pave-the-planet conservatives are wrong, and we do actually have a
grievous impact on the environment, then what have we lost? I can't put
a price on that. The damage could be irreparable. When experts disagree,
the wise decision is the cautious decision. I'm proud of this country.
I want it to look like we respect the land that made us great.
I bought the book when I was on a business trip. I had a
longer-than-expected layover, so I bought the book in the gift shop
expecting something like "Sphere", "Jurassic Park" or the classic
"Andromeda Strain". All of these novels by Crichton deal with the
thrill of scientific discovery. He puts enough scientific information
in his story to make it interesting and believable for the scientific
neophyte. Unfortunately, early in this novel, it becomes clear, in a
literary sense, that this isn't Crichton's best work. However, I can
almost always find something worth remembering from a novel. Once one
digs beneath the clumsy, disappointing veneer of anti-environmentalist
propaganda, one can find some universally good principles: 1) a
preoccupation with safety can be crippling. 2) Organizations can use
fear to control the populace. 3) Blind belief is dangerous.
We would all do well to remember those concepts, as they cut both ways.
Tim
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