#130 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday August 30)
Good morning and Happy Monday!
It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
-- Voltaire, Le dîner du comte de Boulainvilliers (1767): Troisième Entretien
There is a crazy new debate out there regarding whether the events of January 6th were an insurrection or a riot or were simply a bunch of “patriotic Americans” on a weekend tourist visit to the Capitol. It is troubling that, in the interest of political expediency, people who know better are creating a narrative that strays so far from the facts.
One need only listen to the chilling testimony of Capitol police before the House Select Committee to be convinced of the clear danger and high-stakes violent nature of the protest to see this for what it was—an organized attempt to disrupt the operations of the Capitol and a clear intent to violently attack lawmakers and security officials. The guy roaming the Senate chamber in military fatigues carrying “zip ties” (whose use is to handcuff people quickly) was not there just to make a patriotic statement.
The argument that the insurrection was unsuccessful and/or that our elected representatives were not killed or maimed strikes me as akin to an argument that someone who tries unsuccessfully to commit murder should be set free because of their failure. It’s called attempted murder and has consequences.
I’m much more concerned with two things that have become clear from this episode:
There is an anti-factual narrative that is a willing, conscious effort to reinterpret what we saw on TV. We witnessed the death and injury to Capitol police and other law enforcement, insurrectionists (or protesters, or whatever you choose to call them) and innocent people. We saw the large amount of weaponry carried by these patriotic Americans, the pipe bombs discovered at nearby office buildings, and the plan to take prisoners and carry out violence. We have heard testimony from the police injured and attacked that day and we have heard of the physical and emotional injuries to people involved. That it didn’t succeed is not proof that there was no attempt to do greater harm and/or take prisoners.
There is a country western song lyric that goes something like “Who are you going to believe? Me or your lyin’ eyes?” We are witnessing a counter-narrative to the scenes we actually saw on television that suggests that this wasn’t violent at all, that there was no premeditation, that the president’s words didn’t encourage those involved. And there is a not insignificant number of people who, in a mass demonstration of confirmation bias, are willing to go along with this recharacterization. We heard from Messrs. McCarthy and his pals (at the time) that the president was to blame and that this really was an insurrection. Now their tune has changed and, lemmings that they apparently are, the viewers of recent news conferences and viewers of commentators on Fox News seem willing to be buying this crazy narrative.
What of course is most concerning is that people with weapons can cause quite a stir, even if under-armed and with incomplete planning. States are now allowing open carrying of weapons on one’s person and in the trunk of one’s car. Businesses in some states can’t turn away people who are armed. Whatever happened to “we have the right to refuse service to anyone”? Besides the alleged “personal protection” at all times that some people maintain is somehow enshrined in the Constitution, the carrying of weapons has become a means of intimidation and has a real chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of others to freely engage in speech and assembly (without fear of physical violence).
BOOKS THAT CELEBRATE SCIENCE
With all the deriding of norms, disbelief in institutions and indifference to science, it’s nice to see that the values of scientific knowledge, data, and ingenuity remain alive and well in—SCIENCE FICTION!
Many of you no doubt have seen the movie The Martian, starring Matt Damon. It was based upon the book of the same name, by Andy Weir. The rough plot is that Matt Damon was stranded on Mars when his fellow astronauts were forced to leave precipitously. The conceit of the story is that Damon’s character has to use his knowledge and ingenuity to crack problems of science. How does he eat, breathe air, stay sane while waiting to be rescued?
Weir’s new book is Project Hail Mary, which shares some themes. In this book, the protagonist, a middle school science teacher, finds himself an astronaut on a spaceship hurtling through the galaxy, while experiencing amnesia about who he is or why he is there. In the first chapter, he slowly pieces together what has happened, but remains confused about a mission that is still unclear to him. Similar to the plot of The Martian, the protagonist must figure out a series of knotty problems to stay alive and pursue his mission (which he finally figures out!). It’s a great yarn, with many twists and turns. While the problems and challenges are fictional, the solutions are scientifically plausible. Because it is science fiction, a universe and a series of problems are created with a few leaps of technology, but otherwise it is a celebration of science and human ingenuity to achieve the nearly impossible. My only warning is that there are some skimmable passages that are highly technical (and even too detailed for me, who loves science fiction). Jerry Coben listened to the audio version, which he loved for the narrator’s style. Jerry notes that there is at least one aspect of the book that lends itself more to the audio version than the written version (although I’ll still take a physical book…).
I think the message of both of these books by Weir is that problems, even nasty ones, are capable of rational, calm analysis, careful consideration of the facts and data, and thoughtful, patience problem solving. A lesson for our times, perhaps…
Have a great day,
Glenn
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