Re: SOC/BIO: A Tidbit of Eco-Fundamentalist Rhetoric

From: Neal Blaikie (nrb@porterville.k12.ca.us)
Date: Mon Mar 12 2001 - 10:19:51 MST


It's like waking up and finding yourself inside a Phil Dick novel. Truly
strange. Kind of like serving steak dinners at a PETA fundraiser. (I could be
hallucinating, but I seem to recall reading something like that many years
ago, but maybe it was a Greenpeace fundraiser.)

It reminds me of why it's so difficult to make a distinction between being
anti-technology and examining technology critically. People who jump on the
irrational anti-tech bandwagon don't seem to realize that humans have always
been a technological species, and that our lives have improved (and continue
to improve) because of it. Why neo-luddites choose to shoot themselves in the
foot and then operate on it without anesthesia is beyond my comprehension.
Maybe they think pain is romantic.

Neal

Charlie Stross wrote:

> On Sun, Mar 11, 2001 at 01:48:14PM -0500, GBurch1@aol.com wrote:
> > > It is up to us to make our voices heard so that we can tell government
> > > and scientists, "Enough! It is time to stop. The Earth and life are
> > > sacred, not fodder for experimentation." We must further reach out to
> > > others and educate them so that they too will add their voices to the
> > > resounding, "No!"
> > >
> > > No compromise in defense of Mother Earth,
>
> Wow.
>
> Am I the only one to get a HUGE buzz of cognitive dissonance about
> seeing that kind of rhetoric transmitted via ESMTP over TCP/IP connections
> liking millions of computers together via satellite and undersea cable
> channels?
>
> My irony detection meter wrapped its needle three times round the stop post
> when I read this. It's sort of like sense-of-wonder, only in reverse.
>
> -- Charlie



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