I know that one of the virtues of blogs is supposed to be that they're ultra-current, but I'm going to buck the trend by writing about something I did on Tuesday.
Tuesday being the day Michael Crichton's new book came out. He gave a talk at the National Press Club in honor of the occasion, and I went because of a certain professional interest in the subject of said book, but also--I'll admit it--because Michael Crichton is famous.
He used the opportunity not to read from his new book, or even talk about his new book per se, but to pontificate. In case you're wondering, he believes that political decisions these days have nothing to do with science, and everything to do with, well, politics. Reporters don't check facts and hence feed the beast of poor scientific knowledge. What we need is a reliable system of managing information. Allowing genes to be patented is a terrible policy. Peer review is useless and only serves as a barrier to truly novel discoveries being publicized. In the future, people and organizations will be held liable for bad information they put out.
I was a little envious, frankly. Not that I'd have the hubris to try to draw out an audience of hundreds on a Tuesday night to listen to me lecture about what I think is wrong with the world, but if I wanted to, could I? No. Let alone get them to plunk down $27.95 plus tax for a pre-signed copy of my book. I have to content myself with regaling my five devoted readers with tales of what I had for lunch. Damn.
Speaking of soapboxes and science, I recommend this slightly-outdated article. I went (according to Fast Food Nation) to one of the first high schools in the nation to make an exclusive deal with Coke and post ads in the hallways, and even I found it disturbing.
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Musings on Life, the Universe, and Washington, DC
6 comments:
Be careful not to blog to much about politics, and not enough about food or you might lose some of your readers ;)
Should I blog about stinky cheese again? Judging from numbers of comments received on recent posts, maybe I should stick to Canadians as my primary material.
Isn't Michael Crichton the one who's all, humans aren't causing global warming? They even had him testify on the Hill. Is he going to be held liable for the bad information he puts out?
Our high school was one of the first to sell out? Imagine that.
TOWWAS: Yes, that was Crichton. He said his views were misrepresented by people who hadn't actually read the book. And also, anyone who claims to know the future is lying.
However, he didn't explain why he's qualified to advise the powers that be on global warming.
Joey: You really need to read Fast Food Nation.
Crichton and Bush actually had a a little meeting about how global warming is really a conspiracy among liberal elitist scientists, where they both came out very smiley and agreeing. Isn't it nice to know that Bush gets his scientific information from a science FICTION writer?
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