Creechuur
I just read State of Fear by Micheal Crichton. I was going to put this thread in the book forum, but I don't really want to comment on the book as much as the idea behind the book.
The literal issue of the book was global warming, or "extreme climate change" as the activists are now referring to it. The underlying issue was that we as a society are kept in a state of fear so as to be easily controlled and manipulated. Think back through history and you will see that there is always a plague, depression, enemy nation, epidemic, or some other potential evil at our doorstep, just waiting to make off with our children in the deep of the night.
Some of these fears are genuine, but others are manufactured.
It was explained how politicians make the laws, lawyers and the justice system enforce the laws, and the media distributes the information, all to make us just a little more afraid. Afraid to put a cross up in a school, afraid to hire the white guy over the black guy, afraid that our cars are going to destroy the planet, afraid to look "politically incorrect". They do it in a train wreck fashion, and we watch as rubberneckers as our right to be honest and speak our minds and drive our cars is taken away. They say they do these things to keep us safe, to keep our feelings from being hurt, because they know that we don't like anything negative in our life. Most people embrace this state of fear with open arms. They don't realize that it is all the negative aspects of life that provide challenges to overcome, to grow as people.
Here is an example of how they manipulate our emotions. Say someone wants to prove to you global warming is happening. The person shows you a graph of average world temperatures from 1870 to the present. The graph clearly shows an increase of, say, .07 degrees celcius. Sounds like proof positive that our planet is getting warmer right? Then, someone else shows you a graph of average world temperatures from 1650 to the present. In that graph, there is no increase, the average is pretty much a straight line. The data is massaged to fit the needs of the presenter, to prove his point...in both cases actually.
I guess the point is that we all need to second guess whats told to us a bit more. I'm not talking full blown conspiracy-theory-insanity, just try to be more informed before you take whats said to you as gospel.
So, do you live in a state of fear?
The literal issue of the book was global warming, or "extreme climate change" as the activists are now referring to it. The underlying issue was that we as a society are kept in a state of fear so as to be easily controlled and manipulated. Think back through history and you will see that there is always a plague, depression, enemy nation, epidemic, or some other potential evil at our doorstep, just waiting to make off with our children in the deep of the night.
Some of these fears are genuine, but others are manufactured.
It was explained how politicians make the laws, lawyers and the justice system enforce the laws, and the media distributes the information, all to make us just a little more afraid. Afraid to put a cross up in a school, afraid to hire the white guy over the black guy, afraid that our cars are going to destroy the planet, afraid to look "politically incorrect". They do it in a train wreck fashion, and we watch as rubberneckers as our right to be honest and speak our minds and drive our cars is taken away. They say they do these things to keep us safe, to keep our feelings from being hurt, because they know that we don't like anything negative in our life. Most people embrace this state of fear with open arms. They don't realize that it is all the negative aspects of life that provide challenges to overcome, to grow as people.
Here is an example of how they manipulate our emotions. Say someone wants to prove to you global warming is happening. The person shows you a graph of average world temperatures from 1870 to the present. The graph clearly shows an increase of, say, .07 degrees celcius. Sounds like proof positive that our planet is getting warmer right? Then, someone else shows you a graph of average world temperatures from 1650 to the present. In that graph, there is no increase, the average is pretty much a straight line. The data is massaged to fit the needs of the presenter, to prove his point...in both cases actually.
I guess the point is that we all need to second guess whats told to us a bit more. I'm not talking full blown conspiracy-theory-insanity, just try to be more informed before you take whats said to you as gospel.
So, do you live in a state of fear?
