01 January 2008
Global Blooming
I
was talking to a neighbor recently, and she was telling me about an award
winning documentary she’d seen on global warming, and she asked me if I’d seen
it. I said that I hadn’t, and she said that she would loan me the DVD because I
had to see it, and I said, “I won’t watch it because I don’t believe in global
warming.”
Her jaw dropped to the ground.
My neighbor knows that I’m a believer in renewable energy sources. I don’t own
a car (though I’m sure I will again at some point). I walk to the post office,
the grocery store, the library, and so on, and that suits me just fine. So, my neighbor was quite stunned when I
said I didn’t believe in global warming because she was sure we were playing
for the same team.
The thing is, we are playing for the same team. We both want to see a lovely
future for the planet. I just happen to approach it differently. Here’s why:
1. History
I was a history major in college, and if I learned one thing it’s that life is
nothing but change. There have been massive changes in the earth and climate
throughout history, and there will be massive changes in the earth and climate
in the future. Change does not equal catastrophe. Mama nature is much healthier
and more powerful than we give her credit for.
2. Scientists Fudge
It looks like scientists know much more than they do. These are people in white
coats. That’s all. They often embellish their research for funding purposes.
They’re people who need to eat.
I’m not jaded. I’ve had a lot of experience with primary materials. When I was
an undergraduate in the Reagan era, I did research on the Strategic Defense
Initiative for a program called Global Peace and Security. The first thing I
learned as I got into the nitty gritty of it was that scientists don’t
know much more than they do know, but that they have to
make their research sound authoritative to keep the funding flowing.
Later, I did my last year of law school at the Unviersity of California, Davis
through an exchange program, and while I was there I did research for Professor
Imwinkelried who writes THE BOOK on forensic evidence. My research was to
update a section on forensic paint evidence. I had to call scientists in the
field and talk to them about the science of matching paint samples. I was
pretty flabbergasted to learn that, despite the televison dramas that talk
about matching evidence to a scene of a crime as if this is conclusive proof,
there were no absolutes. Call this an early Elias lesson. These professionals
said that science was all about approximations.
To me, the idea of global warming is an approximation, and a poor one at that.
3. I Choose to Believe in Global Blooming
I try to choose my beliefs consciously now, and I see no redeeming value, for
myself, in believing in global warming, though it may serve a purpose for other
people who need an excuse to buy a different car or stop driving or
what-have-you. Certainly, I see some of the positive results that scaring the begeezus
out of the public has rendered because more people are turning now to renewable
energy sources. The city of San Jose, for example, switched to biodeisel, and
the pollution has decreased dramatically. So, I think that’s good. I just don’t
need to scare myself to death to motivate me to move in that direction. I’m
already there. I don’t think I’m alone in being a carrot person (as opposed to
the stick). I’m motivated by how good it can get, and that’s why I choose to
believe in global blooming. I’m not just talking here. I really believe in
global blooming. I believe the entire planet is on the edge of a time period of
tremendous creativity. We are poised for great things.
One of my hobbies is to think about the future, to design it and to see, in my
mind, what works. I’m partial to walking, so I’ve designed a lot of communities
that are pedestrian based. I like to imagine family farms and personal
businesses where individuals are putting their interests first, where the
activities are loved. I like to see people slowing down and enjoying food,
conversation and their neighborhoods. I like to see people expressing their
creativity. I enjoy imagining what government will look like (highly
decentralized), what the military will look like (morphed into a team of
skilled individuals that understand the nature of beliefs and how to deal with
the more undesirable ones that might be present in a crisis situation), health
(totally self-determined) and the planet (a gorgeous, diverse garden).
Science itself, I believe, is going to change quite a bit. It’s going to be
science based on the idea that there are no separations. Math, especially, is
going to be different. After all, what are you counting when you count 1, 2, 3?
We’ve believed that the world is composed of things, but even your basic
physicist will tell you that the world is composed of actions, of movement. So,
when you count, you’re counting a movement. You’re counting an approximation.
You’re counting a probability. This way of thinking, while more common in
quantum physics circles, is not well known or, better said, well used yet.
Places like NWV are going to be on the cutting edge of science because there
are individuals here who are learning how to tap into inner sources of
information. These individuals understand that they’re not separate from
knowledge itself. In light of that, imagine the possibilities.
So, I like to say, get ready for global blooming. The number of new horizons is
going to increase and, with it, so will the fun.
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About Samantha
Samantha Standish is a writer and a former intellectual property and corporate law lawyer. She received her B.A. in history with honors, and her B.A. in Spanish with honors, in 1989 from the University of California, Santa Barbara and went on to get her law degree Cum Laude from the University of Maine School of Law. In her legal career, Samantha worked in government and the private sector, most notably in the financial planning and software industry. In her personal life, she’s been married for twenty years and has a fifteen year-old home schooled son. Samantha resigned from the bar in 2005 and has devoted herself to bridge writing (making complex ideas about space/time easy to understand for the average reader) ever since, focusing mostly on self-help articles for artists and writing bridge books on the side. In her words, “The first forty years of my life were fact finding; the next forty years are about applying, expanding and exploring what I’ve learned.” Her books can be found at samanthastandish.com. Samantha’s NWV blog is titled The Magical Life.