Filed under: Flu, Flu Wiki, Government, Health, Pandemic, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, Society
Another post today – there’s a Flu Wiki which may be of interest to folks who read this blog. From the site:
The purpose of the Flu Wiki is to help local communities prepare for and perhaps cope with a possible influenza pandemic. This is a task previously ceded to local, state and national governmental public health agencies. Our goal is to be:
- a reliable source of information, as neutral as possible, about important facts useful for a public health approach to pandemic influenza
- a venue for anticipating the vast range of problems that may arise if a pandemic does occur
- a venue for thinking about implementable solutions to foreseeable problems
Looks like a great resource, and since someone on the related forum was kind enough to post a link to Communion of Dreams as a “SF novel about post-pandemic world”, I thought the least I could do is return the favor. Because sure as hell, we’re going to get hit by a pandemic flu one of these days, and the more resources people have available about how to cope, the better.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Government, Health, movies, Predictions, RFID, Science, Science Fiction, Society, tech, Wired, Writing stuff
[This post contains spoilers about the plot of Communion of Dreams. I’ll attempt to minimize how much I reveal in the course of discussing this topic, but you’ve been warned.]
RFID tagging is a popular plot device in a lot of movies and fiction, as well as a functional tool for commerce and security. But a lot of people have concerns about how suitable this tech is for the way it is being applied. Let’s put it this way: if you don’t already have a RFID-blocking wallet for your passport (and soon your credit cards), plan on getting one. The authorities claim that RFID passports and other devices are secure, since they can only be ‘read’ by machines at close encounter (just a couple of inches), but hackers have already established that such devices can be read at up to 10 yards.
Anyway, RFID tags are also popular for pet owners, who will ‘chip’ a pet with ID info in case it is lost. Likewise, the tech has been used for monitoring seniors who live alone and for anti-kidnapping devices.
But it seems that there may be medical concerns about implanting the chips into tissue. Concerns which were ignored by FDA. From an AP article the other day:
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005’s top “innovative technologies.”
But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had “induced” malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.
“The transponders were the cause of the tumors,” said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.
What’s even better is that it seems as though the man who was the head of the agency which made the decision then went to work for one of the major corporations pushing the technology:
The FDA is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, which, at the time of VeriChip’s approval, was headed by Tommy Thompson. Two weeks after the device’s approval took effect on Jan. 10, 2005, Thompson left his Cabinet post, and within five months was a board member of VeriChip Corp. and Applied Digital Solutions. He was compensated in cash and stock options.
Compensated to the tune of options on a quarter-million shares of stock and some $80,000, according to Threat Level.
Pretty sweet, eh?
Anyway, this whole notion of integrating tech into our actual bodies is a mainstay of SF, and I do a lot with it in Communion, because I see it as likely that this is where we’re headed. That doesn’t mean that it is a good idea, though, as the example of the RFID chips being suspect shows.
And here’s where we get into the Spoilers:
For Communion, I suggest that there are two options for the human race: to continue down a path of integration with our technology, becoming increasingly ‘enhanced’ and wired and decreasingly human; or to embrace something of the sanctity of the human form – we can use technology, but not become merged with it. This happens via the connection with the alien artifact, which revitalizes aspects of our human ability which had long been suppressed. That the flu virus which had threatened human extinction turns out to have been an artifact of our own technology is just reinforcement of this metaphor.
Don’t mistake me – I am not a technophobe. If I need an artificial heart valve, or a pacemaker, or any similar tech bit installed in my body, then I’m fine with that. But I think the larger issue of integrating optional tech into our bodies will be fraught with dangers, and should not be embraced without real consideration – and I’m not talking about the kind of consideration that the RFID chips got from the FDA.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Bad Astronomy, Bipolar, Carl Zimmer, Cosmic Variance, Fermi's Paradox, Flu, Genetic Testing, Health, Music, Pandemic, Pharyngula, Phil Plait, Plague, Predictions, Saturn, Science, Science Fiction, The Loom, Writing stuff
They’re mixing with the population
A virus wearing pumps and pearls
Lord help the lonely guys
Hooked by those hungry eyes
Here come Tomorrow’s Girls
Tomorrow’s Girls
Donald Fagan, “Tomorrow’s Girls” from Kamakiriad
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I can always tell when I’m feeling better, or have gotten a bit of sleep and am able to think (somewhat) again: I get that little rush of energy, mind jumping and drawing connections between ostensibly divergent topics. It is a shadow of the way I feel when my bipolar condition swings to the manic phase, and all things seem clear and possible.
Such is the case this morning.
I read a lot of science blogs. Pharyngula. Cosmic Variance. Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy. The Angry Toxicologist. But even before he started blogging at The Loom, I was aware of the science reporting of Carl Zimmer. And recently Carl posted a link to his Seed Magazine cover story “The Meaning of Life.” It’s not terribly long, and you should just go read the whole thing.
But among the entire very interesting article is this wonderful idea: that it is a mistake to try and define what life is right now. Philosopher Carol Cleland of NASA’s Institute for Astrobiology is very much in the thick of this, saying that we do not have the necessary perspective. As Zimmer puts it:
Instead of trying to formulate a definition of life, Cleland and Chyba argue, we need to develop a theory of life—an overarching explanation of nature that joins together a myriad of seemingly random phenomena. Biologists have discovered a number of theories–the germ theory of disease and Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, for example—yet they have no full-fledged theory of life itself. The underlying uniformity of life is one of the great discoveries of modern biology, but it’s also an obstacle. It represents only a single data point, and blinds us to the possibilities of “weird life.” We have no idea exactly which features of life as we know it are essential to life as we don’t know it.
A theory of life would allow us to understand what matters to life, what possible forms it can take, and why. It would let us see connections that we might otherwise miss, just as chemists can see the hidden unity between a cloud in the sky and a block of ice. Scientists are already trying to build a theory of life. A number of researchers have been developing a theory in which life is a self-organized system that can be described using the same principles physicists use to describe hurricanes or galaxies. As biologists learn more and more about how the millions of molecules in a cell work together, these theorists can put their ideas to more precise tests.
For Cleland, the most promising way to build a theory of life is to look for alien life. In 2013, the European Space Agency plans to put a rover back on Mars. Called Exomars, it will drill into the Martian crust to seek out signs of life. NASA has plans of its own on the drawing board, including one possible mission that would bring Martian soil back to Earth for intense study. Meanwhile, other promising habitats for life, such as some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, beckon. Cleland argues that finding alien life would allow us to start figuring out what is truly universal about life, rather than just generalizing from life as we know it. Only when we have more data, she reasons, will we have a basis for comparison. As it stands now, says Cleland, “we have no grist for the theoretical mill.”
Brilliant. This is not unlike the revolution in perspective which occurred with the transition to a heliocentric model of the solar system. It necessarily moves us from the bias that our version of life is the only possible model. I’ve written about this previously, but it is good to see such a complete treatment of the topic as Zimmer gives it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
It looks like scientists have discovered the likely culprit in the collapse of the honey bee populations in the US: a virus.
Virus implicated in bee decline
A virus has emerged as a strong suspect in the hunt for the mystery disease killing off North American honeybees.
Genetic research showed that Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) turned up regularly in hives affected by Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
Over the last three years, between 50% and 90% of commercial bee colonies in the US have been affected by CCD.
And from the same source:
Also open is the question of how the virus arrived in the US. One finger of suspicion points to Australia, from where the US began importing honeybees in 2004 – the very year that CCD appeared in US hives.
The researchers found IAPV in Australian bees, and they are now planning to go back through historical US samples to see if the Antipodean imports really were the first carriers.
If they were, the US might consider closing its borders to Australian bees.
The way the researchers determined that a virus was involved is also interesting. Since the honey bee genome has been ‘solved’ (completely mapped), they were able to assay the entire genetic contents of a hive and then remove the known components. What was left included some bacterial agents which are probably in symbiotic harmony with the bees, and various fungi and other items. By comparing a healthy hive’s genetic assay with one suffering from CCD, they were able to identify possible culprits – in this case, the IAPV.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Communion of Dreams is set in a post-pandemic Earth, where a viral agent was responsible for widespread death and sterility some 40 years prior to the time of the novel. One good model of exactly how that could happen is CCD with the honey bees, though that has occurred in the time since I first wrote the book.
Now, how does this all tie together? Well, only because the researchers looking into the honey bee problem had the tools of genetic mapping available to them were they able to understand what was (likely) going on. Something similar happens in Communion on two fronts – resolving the riddle of the orphan girl and understanding the threat of the new virus. But perhaps more importantly, there is the mystery of the alien artifact and its connection the the superconducting gel, which I describe as “more alive than not” – this gets to the very heart of the issue of understanding the true nature of the universe, and discarding our previous biases.
Oh, and lastly, I’m sure we’ll see something from Zimmer about the IAPV discovery. Why? Because one of his specialties is the nightmare-inducing world of parasites, and looking at the evolutionary struggle between hosts and diseases.
Jim Downey
“When does this plane land?”
“Mom, this is your home. Not an airplane.”
“Well, I don’t want to lose my glasses. I’ll need them.”
“I’ll make sure you have them.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
My wife and I have both noticed a lot more “journeying” reference from my MIL in the past few days. From such things as above, to stories of people waiting for her to return, to news that she is going “on a trip”.
Yeah, that’s probably right.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
There’s a phenomenon familiar to those who deal with Alzheimer’s. It’s called “sundowning“. There are a lot of theories about why it happens, my own pet one is that someone with this disease works damned hard all day long to try and make sense of the world around them (which is scrambled to their perceptions and understanding), and by late in the afternoon or early evening, they’re just worn out. You know how you feel at the end of a long day at work? Same thing.
So we usually don’t worry about it when my MIL gets hit by this. Still, it’ll catch you completely off guard if you let it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
We’re not yet into our first full week of being back on Hospice. And I think that it didn’t come a moment too soon. My MIL is exhibiting more and more of the common signs of an approaching death. Her incontinence (and general body awareness) has gotten a lot worse in recent days. She’s shown signs of restlessness at odd times. There are other physiological cues.
But most notably, has been talk of seeing her long-dead parents, and a sense that they are waiting for her to “go on a trip” with them.
I’m an atheist. I also have little belief in any kind of soul or ‘life after death’. I try and be completely honest, yet not obnoxious about my beliefs. Yet when the other day my MIL looked at me and said that she was worried about her parents missing her, I told her that they left a message for us to care for her until they came to get her.
“To take me with them?”
“That’s right.”
“Up to heaven?”
“Yes.”
Why did I say this? Because she smiled happily at me when I did.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I think we’re all getting ready. Ready for her to die. And I will be relieved.
No, I’m not being morbid. Or cold. Or selfish. I’m being honest.
Yes, this has been a long and difficult journey, and as I’ve said, I will be glad to be on the other side of it. I’m deep-bones weary. But that is not really why I will be relieved at her passing.
No, I will be glad to see her freed from the pain. Not just the physical pain she suffers from her various health issues (though we do a pretty good job of palliative care, thanks to her doctors and our attentiveness). But rather the pain of confusion, and loss, and fear she suffers due to the dementia. There is only so much we can do to allay that particular pain, and with each passing day it gets a little bit worse, eclipsing her ability to cope while leaving her with a very fundamental fear.
‘When does this plane land?’ Soon, I hope – soon.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jim Downey
(Cross posted to UTI.)
Filed under: Alzheimer's, Failure, General Musings, Health, Hospice, Publishing, Religion, Sleep, Writing stuff
After she finished doing the nursing assessment of my MIL, I escorted ‘Missy’ from the Hospice agency out to her car. We paused just outside the back door, and she looked at me. “You guys are really doing a great job as care-givers.”
She probably tells that to all the people they work with. It’s likely in the manual.
But you know, it was still good to hear.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Every one of family and friends we’ve told have been very supportive. “Glad you’re getting some help.” “About time you were able to find a good Hospice.” “Good that you can have some support.” “Maybe now you can get some regular assistance, even some more respite care in each week.”
But you know, it somehow feels like failure. Like we’re giving up, giving in, saying “we can’t handle this any more.”
I always knew this time would come. Just as I know that someday my MIL will die. Well, part of me knew these things. Part of me didn’t. It’ll take some time for the emotional reality to catch up with the intellectual.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I found myself while on my morning walk considering what it will be like. To be able to go visit friends without having to coordinate family coming in to stay with my MIL. To not have to listen to a baby monitor 24 hours a day. To get some real sleep night after night after night. Daring to think that I might once again have a life of my own.
Really, that’s how it is. You develop such tunnel vision – everything has to be considered in terms of one objective: being a care provider. Yes, you take breaks as you can, you try and get some exercise, some sleep, eat right. Maybe even do some writing or conservation work. But all of that is secondary. Distantly secondary. Because you have to be there for the person you are caring for. It is a sacred trust, perhaps the only thing I truly consider to be sacred.
But now I start to consider What Comes After.
And it frightens me.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Over 4,300 people have downloaded my novel. That’s an average of 600 people a month. Pretty good for what is basically word-of-mouth. I have a lot of work ahead of me to turn this into landing an agent, getting a publishing contract. If not for this book, then for the next one, on the basis that I have at least that much name recognition, that much of an ‘audience’.
I have the prequel to write. There’s a couple chapters already done that will need to be revised. And outlines for the rest of the book to be reworked.
I have at least two patentable ideas – one firearms related, one a consumer electronics item – that I need to pursue, see what I can do to either formally file a patent, or convince the appropriate large corporation to buy the idea from me with something less formal.
I need to earn some money, pay off debt.
I need to lose a bunch of weight, get back into something resembling decent shape.
And I’m frightened. For the last four years, none of these goals has really been paramount. So it has been easy to not succeed at them, and not take it as a personal failure. Soon, I will no longer have that excuse.
Can I succeed? Can I accomplish something lasting with my life?
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
A friend sent me the “Quotes of the Day” this morning. It contained one of my long-time favorites:
There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.
— Thomas A. Edison
Certainly true. One only has to look around at the world to see that. So very few people are willing and able to actually think for themselves. Oh, they may believe this or that, and call it thinking. But to actually stop, and consider, and understand? That is a rare thing.
I have been chronically tired for years now. And my ability to think clearly, or for any length of time, has been correspondingly diminished. I can point to this or that instance recently when I was able to think and work for short periods, once I had a bit more sleep and time to decompress. But it is a fragile thing. And I worry that perhaps it has slipped away. . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jim Downey
I’m tired. No, make that I’m weary – not just from lack of sleep, but that deep weariness of being on a long campaign of any sort, in this case three & a half years as a full time care-giver.
I wrote a couple weeks ago about our previous experience with Hospice for my mother-in-law (MIL). Well, as reflected in that post, we’d seen a downturn in her condition, notably the tendency to sleep a lot more. Couple that with increasing comments from her following naps that she had been with her parents (who have been dead for decades) and that they “wanted her to come home”, and we sensed that perhaps she was entering into the end of life. We contacted her doctor, discussed the matter with him last week. He agreed with us, prescribed Hospice once again.
This morning we had a visit from the case manager (a nice woman named Jann) from a different health organization than the one we used previously. We went over my MIL’s condition, expressed our concerns about what our experience had been last year, discussed options. According to her, my MIL fits well into the guidelines for Hospice admittance under the ‘debility’ criteria, and there’s little chance that she would ‘graduate’ from Hospice care under those criteria.
So, we’re giving this another try. My wife and I are good care-givers, and have done this job well for these past years. But now having the resources of Hospice available is a comfort, so long as I feel that I can trust it. Knowing that we have someone to call who can advise and assist as needed comes as something of a relief, and I find myself a little overwhelmed.
And for some odd reason, more weary than when I got up from being on call this morning. Tension-release, I suspect.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Climate Change, Failure, Flu, General Musings, Global Warming, Health, Pandemic, Predictions, Press, Science, Science Fiction, Society, Writing stuff
GENEVA (AFP) – The World Health Organisation on Thursday warned that a new deadly infectious disease like AIDS or Ebola is bound to appear in the 21st century, in a report urging more global solidarity to tackle an expanding array of health threats.
“It would be extremely naive and complacent to assume that there will not be another disease like AIDS, another Ebola, another SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), sooner or later,” the 2007 World Health Report said.
It’s news like this, resulting from extensive scientific research into pandemics and potential threats from the development of infectious diseases thanks to climate change and further penetration of population into heretofore ‘remote’ areas, which lead me to use a pandemic flu as the basis for the history of Communion of Dreams. And I first started thinking about this about 10 years ago. In other words, nothing’s changed – but the science is consistent, and we’re likely overdue for a major global pandemic.
Comforting thought, isn’t it?
Jim Downey
I like to garden. Always have. Since my senior year in college, I’ve almost always had at least a small vegetable garden. This year I kept my garden intentionally small, due to the increasing time constraints of being a full-time care giver. I didn’t want to have to be dealing with 40 or 50 pounds of ripe tomatoes a day for weeks on end, like I did a couple of years ago when I planted about three dozen different tomato plants, and they all bore very heavily. This year it was only 10 plants, and as a result I’ve only canned and sauced a couple of afternoons. Surprisingly, the deer this year have decided that they too like my tomato plants, and have been ‘helping’ me by keeping them trimmed back so that less fruit grows.
Six or seven years ago, I got bit by the “chilehead” bug – I started liking hotter and hotter spices, moving up the Scoville scale from Jalapenos to Serranos to eventually commercially available Habanero peppers. Over time I started reading about hot peppers, trying sauces, eventually even growing my own peppers. For the last several years I’ve been growing Habaneros, getting seedlings from local nurseries without much choice in terms of the varietal. I’ve been making my own sauces, but also simply dry the peppers and grind them up, use the powder like most people use black pepper. That’s fairly hard core.
But this year . . . this year, I wanted to up the ante a bit. So I ordered some of these:
All photos Copyright © Cross Country Nurseries DEVIL’S TONGUE – extremely hot; Habanero Type; 2 to 3 inches long by 1 to 1.5 inches wide; matures from green to golden yellow; pendant pods; green leaves; 30 to 36 inches tall; Late Season; this pepper is outrageously hot!;C.chinense.
and some of these:
All photos Copyright © Cross Country Nurseries HABANERO-RED SAVINA ™ – extremely hot; Habanero Type; 1.5 to 2.5 inches long by 1 to 1.5 inches wide; medium thick flesh; matures from green to red; pendant pods; green leaves; 24 to 30 inches tall; Late Season; in the Guinness Book as the hottestchile known. **Cross Country Nurseries is a licensed grower of the Red Savina ™ Habanero (PVP 9200255). Transplants are provided for the home gardener. Seeds from these peppers can not be legally saved to sell to others. You must plan to use these peppers for your own use.;C.chinense.
Now, last night the damned deer munched over the Devil’s Tongue (WTF? I thought deer would stay away from hot peppers??), so I may or may not get any peppers off of those. But a couple of weeks ago I put up some additional fencing around the RedSavinas, when one of the plants showed some early signs of someone feeding on them (I’d figured some kind of groundhog or something). And this morning when I was picking tomatoes I noted a nice little orange ball in the midst of one of the plants. Investigating, I saw that this one pepper had started to ripen, but had also been sampled by a bird (birds don’t react to the capsaicin in the peppers). So I nabbed it, brought it in.
This pepper wasn’t fully matured – they become deep red as noted in the description above – and so hadn’t fully developed the heat it will have. Still, I cut it open, removed the nibbled bits and the seeds, and set it aside to dry. Then, in what is something of a normal test for me, I touched the edge of the knife with the pepper juice to the tip of my tongue. There was the briefest flash of heat, and then my tongue simply went numb. And it stayed numb for about 20 minutes, the rest of my mouth echoing that wonderful Habanero burn.
Yeah, baby, this is gonna be good!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Alzheimer's, Flu, Health, Pandemic, Plague, Science, Science Fiction, Society
Research has established one component of the world-wide epidemic of obesity: a virus.
A common virus that causes colds can be a factor in obesity, according to a study released Monday offering further evidence that a weight problem may be contagious.
The adenovirus-36 (Ad 36) has already been implicated as the cause of weight gain in animals, but with this study researchers showed for the first time that it can also cause humans to pile on the pounds.
The findings could accelerate the development of a vaccine or an antiviral medication to help fight the battle of the bulge alongside diet and exercise.
It’s a slow-moving, slow-acting plague. This would go a long ways to explaining why obesity has become so wide-spread in the last few decades, and has been hinted at in previous studies. There are other factors, certainly, but establishing a tie to a viral component could be a huge factor in dealing with this problem more effectively.
I’m overweight by about 40 pounds. Partly this is a function of my lifestyle, with the lack of opportunity to be active and the additional stress of being a full-time care provider for someone with Alzheimer’s. I know that with a lot of effort in exercise and watching what I eat, I can shake off the excess pounds – I’ve done it a couple of times. But it is so much harder now than it was before, and my natural weight-point has changed from where it used to be a decade ago to where it is now. And this pattern is seen increasingly around the globe, where other factors at play in my life or in the typical American life can be eliminated.
In Communion I have a post-pandemic society, one which is recovering from a massive disruption caused by a flu virus which caused rapid death in a large percentage of the population. But the reality of what we’re dealing with might be even more insidious.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Alzheimer's, General Musings, Health, Predictions, Religion, Society
A friend sent me a link to this CBS News item this morning:
Except that the article really isn’t about that. It’s more about where atheism fits in within our society, as seen through the vehicle of former Saturday Night Live actress Julia Sweeney, who discusses her own journey away from belief, and how it was received by her family:
Even more confusing for Sweeney personally was religion. She comes from a large Irish-Catholic family. But in her 30s, Sweeney says she began a spiritual quest. It led her away from any notion of God — a conversion she turned into a monologue, soon to be released as a film called “Letting Go of God.”
But of course, many people would disagree with Sweeney, especially her mother, Geri. She said it was a great shock that her daughter decided that there wasn’t enough evidence for her to believe in God.
“I just couldn’t believe that she had gotten to that place. I’m Catholic. I intend to continue to be Catholic,” Geri Sweeney said. “I think the Catholic Church is a wonderful place.”
It’s a long piece, but here is the bit I was intrigued by:
Julia Sweeney says she simply cannot believe in God because of a lack of evidence, but Prothero (Chair of the religious studies department at Boston University, and author of the recent book “Religious Literacy“) says that is where faith comes in.
“I have no trouble saying that, you know, we can’t prove the existence of God,” he said. “I think most Americans feel the same way.”
Julia’s mother Geri says she was taught in second grade that there was no proof that God exists.
“It doesn’t matter a bit to me,” she said. “I have a very personal relationship with my God and I don’t need any proof. I’m not searching for proof — and she is.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I was still trying to get to the bottom of my first cup of coffee this morning, when my MIL called for the third time since I had come downstairs about thirty minutes previously.
I entered the dark bedroom (it was barely 7 AM), went over to her bed. I leaned over the railing. “What do you need, MIL?”
“Are we there yet?”
“Where?”
“Boonville.” (A nearby town, and where she grew up.)
“We’re in Columbia.”
“Oh.” Pause. “Well, how long will the train take to get to Boonville?”
“Train?”
“Yeah, we’re on a train.”
“Um, no. We’re in your home.” (The home where she’s lived for 53 years.)
“Oh, no, we’re on a train.” She looked around the ample bedroom, complete with bookshelves, a desk, dressers, et cetera. “This is a train.”
“Um, no, this is your bedroom. In your home. In Columbia.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup.”
“How are you sure?”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I am somewhat dismayed when I see the religious responses to this kind of criticism/concern. Because so often it is not a rational “I know there’s no proof of God, but my faith helps me believe”, and instead is something akin to the outright disconnect I get when dealing with my MIL. It’s “Through the Looking Glass” time, where the usual words and understanding that we have of the world around us is no longer in any way related to reality.
Now, many people of deep faith are really decent people, with a good education and the ability to discuss things intelligently. And yet, when pushed, we so often see a believer who is capable of constructing a reality in which his personal saviour is triumphant over the “also rans” of science and other religions.
And that frightens me.
Oh, not so much that mankind is still stuck in magical thinking. I knew that. Have known it for many, many years. But rather that even the intelligent and well educated are capable of warping knowledge to fit their own particular religious perspective.
I will admit to being an elitist. I look at intelligence and education as our only possible hope of progress as a species. I see it as an antidote to ignorance, superstition, living in a fantasy where it is OK for one religious group to hate and kill another.
But when I witness the willing suspension of critical thinking – worse, the twisting of critical thinking to support irrationality – I feel like I am looking into a future in which the whole human race slides into an Alzheimer’s-like dementia, unable to determine where we are, let alone where we’re going.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
After my MIL got up from her nap this afternoon, had a snack, and went in to sit in the front room, we had a storm roll through. Nothing serious, but there was a bit of lightning and thunder. I went to check on her, and it was clear that she was anxious about something. I asked her if she was worried.
“I’m worried about the people.”
“Which people?”
“The people who I was talking with. Before.”
“Maybe that was a dream, MIL. You’ve been here all day.”
“Oh, no, I was up on a hill. Talking with people. They told me to come back here.”
(We live on the highest hill around, and she’d been no where.) “Well, maybe that was in your dream.”
“No, it was at a house, up on a hill over there,” She gestured randomly. “Will you take me up there? I want to make sure the people are OK.”
“I’m sure they’re fine.”
“But you have to take me to go see.”
And thereafter followed 40 minutes of discussion about not needing to take her ‘over there’ in the car so she could check to make sure the people of her dream were OK.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
And therein lies the danger of this – those who have slipped off into dementia are demanding that we all go along for the ride, and that we take them to their imaginary places to see imaginary people and do imaginary things. Why? Because they’re “sure”.
Jim Downey
(A slightly different version of this pertaining to specific people was posted at UTI. I decided that the general idea was applicable elsewhere, so decided to post it here.)
Communion Of Dreams 