The Unconditional Human Spirit

This good science below from sources like “co2coalition.org”, where atmospheric physicists like Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and others like 2022 Nobel laureate in physics John Clauser, post their research. My point is to focus on the physics of CO2 which shows that the warming influence of CO2 is now “saturated”, meaning it will contribute very little if any to further warming, if such warming should continue to occur.

Takeaway from their research? It is natural factors that are mainly responsible for climate change, not CO2. And warming has not and is not becoming a “crisis”. It has been mild (roughly 1 degree C over the past century) and hugely beneficial to all life, just as the increase in CO2 has been hugely beneficial to all life in adding some 15% more green vegetation to the world since 1980.

Again, there is no good scientific reason to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies.

Climate facts:

Outgoing longwave radiation (thermal radiation) spans wavelengths from 4 to 100 micrometers (UM). CO2 absorbs that radiation at 15 micrometers on the longwave spectrum. CO2 re-emits the absorbed outgoing longwave radiation in all directions, sending about 50% back downward to contribute a minor influence to any warming.

This quote from the third link below…

“Although there is little-to-no evidence of any significant changes in the earth’s climate since the post-industrial age [2,6,7], man-made global warming proponents are concerned because measured CO2 levels have increased by about 30% over the past 100 years (0.028% to 0.041%), and CO2 has been identified as a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

“However, skeptics argue that not only are current CO2 levels in the atmosphere negligible compared to levels seen in the history of the planet, but that the infrared radiation wavelengths that are absorbed by CO2 are already saturated, so the maximum CO2 effect on the earth’s temperature has already been reached, as will be discussed further below. Thus, adding more CO2 beyond current levels is not likely to have much effect on global warming.

“In fact, warming of the earth is related to many other factors, including the natural variability of the climate. In any case, the role of CO2 itself is insignificant compared to that of water vapor, which is present in the atmosphere up to 4%, i.e., 100 times more than CO2. In addition, the H2O molecule has a higher warming potential than the CO2 molecule. Moreover, man’s contribution to global warming gases is tiny compared to that of natural processes, as will also be described below.”

https://co2coalition.org/facts/the-warming-effect-of-each-molecule-of-co2-declines-as-its-concentration-increases/

https://co2coalition.org/media/how-co2-saves-the-earth-greenhouse-gas-have-vital-warming-cooling-effects/

https://co2coalition.org/publications/why-human-contribution-to-climate-change-is-minimal-and-negligible/

New comment below: The narrative themes that are driving the climate alarmism crusade. No different from the same old myths that shaped “the profoundly religious crusades” of Marxism and Nazism, and all previous apocalyptic crusades. Note David Redles’ good historical detail (“Hitler’s Millennial Reich”) on how Hitler used apocalyptic millennial ideas to carry Germany into mass-death. As that military guy warned about ISIS- you can defeat such eruptions of violence with force, but they will only keep erupting and re-erupting until you go after the fundamental ideas that incite and validate them. Read the rest of the opening comment here

“Well, there are always wonderful words to describe things that are not very wonderful”– Thomas Sowell and his “the test of facts” that expose the impacts of well-intentioned policies. Think also the “psychopathology of left-wing compassion” in this regard, also known as “the psychopathology of left-wing authoritarianism”, today’s “real threat to democracy”. Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and others in alternative, independent media probe these threats to democracy regularly.

After the early 1990s collapse of communism, who would have thought that we would be facing the greatest threat to freedom from within our liberal democracies? That the formerly “liberal” side of our societies would reject Classic Liberalism for extreme leftist Woke Progressivism, a newly framed version of collectivism with its varied new fronts of DEI, ESG, etc.? DEI? Yes, the new tribal dualism of opposing classes of oppressor/oppressed, victimizer/victims, still embracing the old dualism of capital owners vs capital-deprived peasants/workers but now with the opposing classes also defined by race, by skin color. Whatever happened to Martin Luther King’s dream of colorblind society of equally free and uniquely differing individuals?

Warning re the outcomes of alarmism crusades, Wendell Krossa

The apocalyptic millennial scholars noted below present stunning evidence that Marxism, Nazism, and now environmental alarmism, are “profoundly religious crusades”. And more unsettling for true believers, these researchers expose the fundamental role that Christian “apocalyptic millennial” themes have played in the above mass-death movements. I take that further and argue that their histories of these themes point to the line of historical descent over the past two millennia that runs directly from Paul’s apocalyptic Christ.

My point relates to the comment below on the recent speech by atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen who offers the quote from Voltaire that “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities”. Lindzen warns that leftist revolutionaries have co-opted and perverted climate science and are bent on destroying Western civilization.

Lindzen is right to pushback against the absurdity of climate alarmism “science” with the better evidence of good skeptical science. But then the question- Why does that evidence change so few alarmist minds?

Kristian Niemietz offers some insight on why factual evidence changes so few minds. Niemietz explains this in relation to Socialism but it applies equally to climate alarmism, a similarly apocalyptic crusade.

From my previous summary of Niemietz: “Emotional satisfaction, not rational thinking, and despite contrary evidence, dominates our choice in beliefs.”

“Kristian Niemietz brilliantly explains the psychopathology of why people continue to embrace and affirm this failed ideology (“Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies”), how emotional satisfaction, not rational thinking, and despite contrary evidence, dominates our choice in beliefs. Think also “confirmation bias” in the mix. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Topics in this section (below Brinsmead post):

New comments below on the “social contagion” of childhood “climate anxiety”. The prominent outbreak of child abuse today as adults panic and traumatize children with the apocalyptic crusade of irrational and unscientific climate change hysteria.

Viktor Frankl on the search for meaning. “The primary motivation for living is to find meaning.”

Ken Hapaala on “The Week That Was: The Science and Environmental Policy Project.” “The common assumption that carbon dioxide is “the main driver of climate change” is no longer true and is scientifically false.”

Hapaala on “A Strong Historical Case for Nullification.” “The ‘peoples of the states’ are the sovereigns.”

This from Bob Brinsmead. See also https://bobbrinsmead.com/

For those who may have missed this below and want to know who the “Historical Jesus” really was and what he actually taught, Brinsmead is among the best at explaining these things. Bob has long exhibited the finely tuned ability to see core issues in relation to anything that he is looking at. And he does so without resorting to “ad hominem attack” against any who disagree with him, sticking to the core issues at play. A great human spirit.

Here is a recent post from Bob that presents his research on this subject of how the man Jesus was transformed by Paul into the Christ of the New Testament. In that process of “developing Christology for early Christianity” the Historical Jesus was deformed utterly to represent something entirely opposite to who he actually was and what he actually taught.

Both Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy have made brutally blunt conclusions about what happened with Paul’s Christology as burying the “diamonds/pearls” of Jesus in (pardon my quoting of their actual terms) “dung, slime and muck, garbage”, the “product of lesser minds”.

“(The early Christian development of Christology- Jesus as the Christ, deification of an ordinary human person) meant taking the focus away from the teachings of the messenger and putting all the focus on to the person of the messenger”, Bob Brinsmead.

The outcome of the multiple-century process of Christology was a hideous deformity of the person. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Some goodies below…. See J.D. Tuccille’s article below on the “less state regulations/more state regulations” positions of this year’s candidates for US president/VP. Good points on politicians with no business experience campaigning to run/ruin major economies, versus the value of candidates with business experience. Interesting comment included from US Senator and presidential candidate George McGovern, after he was involved with a business venture and became truly “woke” about that. So also, the leader of the Communist faction of Mitterrand’s 1980 coalition of socialists/communists became really woke after ruining the French economy with typical collectivist nationalization projects. They had the sense to back off their nationalization projects and he then concluded, “We must respect business as the creator of wealth in a society”. Well, holy shit, eh.

Again, I refer to the US situation because it is so illustrative of major issues/trends in all our Western, formerly liberal democracy, societies.

Topics added to bottom of this opening section:

The Gutfeld panel comments on the new totalitarianism that Michael Shellenberger warns below is “accelerating” as governments of what we thought were “liberal democracies”- i.e. Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, etc.- are clamping down on freedom of speech and criminalizing the online comments of people who dissent from state-approved narratives.

And Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn do a new discussion of “weird” shaming, a new propaganda tool to kowtow independents and dissenters back into the conformity of the consensus group.

And a new one from Bob Brinsmead on how Hellenism shaped the Christ myth of Paul, taking the focus off the teachings of the man Jesus to re-orient focus to Paul’s new theory about the man- i.e. the Greek God or Christ myth that Paul created to explain the man, that was entirely opposite to the actual teachings of Jesus. This illustrates why I consider Brinsmead one of the finest theological minds on the planet.

Also, some added inserts from scholar, and solid empiricist, Thomas Sowell. His “test of the facts” approach that expose the fallacies in many assumptions about race, elite arrogance in “social engineering” approaches, and other issues.

This site will continue to probe varied sources of research on the great meta-narratives that have shaped human behavior and societies across history, including today, and what are the outcomes of those narratives. The ideas/ideals that constitute our narratives are the themes that guide our lives. They shape how we think, how we feel, they motivate us, and they influence how we respond and act in our lives. They matter in the ordinary and mundane of daily life- how we treat one another. Read the rest of the opening comment here

These two topics are in the next section just below this top section:

Kristian Niemietz- Emotional satisfaction, not rational thinking, and despite contrary evidence, dominates our choice in beliefs. The question of why people continue to hold to the fallacies of socialism and climate alarmism?

And…

A quibble with Joe Rogan’s doomster narrative on ocean fisheries, Wendell Krossa

I have a quibble with Joe Rogan’s doomster position over ocean fisheries- a persistent one that he brings up repeatedly about ocean fisheries dying over this century, becoming exhausted and ruined. Balance this quibble with my strong affirmation for his excellent podcast and endless series of fascinating discussions with diverse guests.

Joe’s alarmism illustrates the larger psycho-pathology of apocalyptic alarmism in our societies that dominates narratives religious, ideological, and even scientific.

‘Sitesplainin’ qualifiers: Wendell Krossa

Despite my, by all appearances, negative comments regarding religious traditions and the dark themes still dominating those traditions, I affirm very much the majority of people who are able to selectively comb through their tradition to find humane, positive, and comforting insights, to select out life-affirming ideals that are common to all humanity (i.e. found in human rights codes/declarations, constitutions, Bills of rights). My affirmation of such “pick and choose” approaches? Go for it. I am all for that.

I am trying to point out what weakens, distorts, and buries the better ideals and insights in religious traditions, and that we need to clean off the deforming “muck” (Leo Tolstoy’s term, similar to Thomas Jefferson’s) that dominates in the surrounding contexts of religious holy books and other supporting material- i.e. the teaching on themes like judgment, tribal exclusion/discrimination (true believers included, unbelievers excluded), deity dominating humans (humans created to serve the gods), the threats of punitive apocalypse and hell, etc., all the nasty stuff in religious traditions that messes up the good stuff.

Isn’t this a basic obligation for all of us- to discern and sort out the good from the bad, everywhere in life? Nothing out of bounds- i.e. protected “under the canopy of the sacred”?

This from the best: “The search for God cannot wait. And love one another”, the final words of George Harrison.

Another good one from Michael Shellenberger

We can only fight for and defend freedom when we understand what and where the real threat to freedom is coming from. This by Shellenberger is the best of independent journalism and speaking truth to power, exposing abuse of power. Read the rest of the opening comment here

A Jordan Peterson insight

Good point, affirmed by psychology, that if we confront what terrifies us, if we confront that voluntarily, engage it, just do it, then we become stronger. Part of that is realizing that the thing we fear has been exaggerated in our minds and is not the monster that we thought or imagined it was. This process of facing and conquering our fears is a gradual and ongoing process throughout life.

Kristian Niemietz- Emotional satisfaction, not rational thinking, and despite contrary evidence, dominates our choice in beliefs. The question of why people continue to hold to the fallacies of socialism and climate alarmism? Wendell Krossa

Why does fact/evidence change so few minds, as we observe in regard to the apocalyptic climate alarm? Because we live by emotional attachment to our beliefs, beliefs that just feel right. They seem true (a ring of truthiness) because they have been beaten into human consciousness across multiple millennia through endless iterations of the same old primitive mythical themes that have become deeply embedded in the human subconscious as archetypes.

The complex of themes that have shaped human narratives from the beginning and still dominate today:

“Original paradise. Corrupt humans ruined paradise. Life then began declining toward something worse, toward apocalyptic ending. Now humanity faces the demand for atonement, for sacrifice/payment/suffering as punishment and redemption. There is also the demand to engage a righteous battle against some evil that threatens life (the hero’s quest to conquer a monster or evil enemy), followed by the promise of restored paradise or new utopia.”

So, for example, many people hear a contemporary version of an apocalyptic narrative like climate alarmism, and it just feels right and true to them. It resonates. No need to rationally analyze it any further. Read the rest of the opening comment here

I will soon post a full summary of Kristian Niemietz’s great analysis of the 24 Socialist experiments over the past century, their inevitable failure, and the defensive excuse-making of socialists after every failure. This sample quote from Niemietz…

“Socialism in the sense which self-identified democratic socialists define it… a democratized economic planned collectively by ‘the people’, has never been achieved anywhere and could not be achieved. Economic planning can only ever be done in a technocratic, elitist fashion, and it requires an extreme concentration of power in the hands of the state. It cannot ‘empower’ ordinary workers. It can only ever empower bureaucratic elites.”

Note revisions below, such as this….

“Kristian Niemietz brilliantly explains the psychopathology of why people continue to embrace and affirm this failed ideology (“Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies”), how emotional satisfaction, not rational thinking, and despite contrary evidence, dominates our choice in beliefs. Think “confirmation bias”. He bases his arguments on the research of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Add here the research on how deformed (i.e. narcissistic) versions of compassion for the oppressed can result in people supporting approaches that harm the very people they claim to have compassion for.”

If you want to “run as you read”, then skip this opening part just below and go to the main comment below on “The Jesus/Paul contradiction” (Historical Jesus versus Paul’s Christ myth) and how the Christ element in this contradiction has profoundly shaped everything in Western consciousness and society today. Notably, the feature of apocalyptic in Paul’s Christ myth has been most responsible for embedding and affirming the fallacy of apocalyptic in subsequent Western narratives and consciousness, in narratives religious, “secular/ideological”, and even “scientific”. Apocalyptic has been “the most violent and destructive idea in history” (Arthur Mendel in “Vision and Violence”) and central to inciting alarmism in populations that are then rendered susceptible (due to incited survival impulse) to irrational salvation schemes that destroy society to “save the world”. Note Net Zero decarbonization here.

The Jesus element in this contradiction is critical for overturning the fallacy of apocalyptic. His “stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God (hence, non-apocalyptic)” guts entirely the old primitive deity of past mythical and religious narratives. His “greatest contribution to the history of human ideas” (James Robinson) transforms the cohering center of the “lost paradise, decline of life toward apocalypse, demand for atonement/salvation” complex of myths. Unfortunately, the stunning new theological insight of Historical Jesus has been buried for two millennia by the Christ myth of Paul (conclusion of Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy). Read the rest of the opening comment here

See recent report on climate by atmospheric physicists Richar Lindzen and William Happer below. “The common assumption that carbon dioxide is “the main driver of climate change” is scientifically false…. All Net Zero Actions Worldwide Should Be Stopped Immediately”.

Sitesplainin qualifier: This site repeatedly appeals to the US situation to illustrate common major issues that are afflicting most Western societies.

Projection, demonization of differing others, Wendell Krossa- Just some musing with other curious explorers of these things.

This is some street-level psychology from a fiercely independent commoner, or populist if you will, as in Winston Marshall’s comment that “populism is democracy”. Definitely not dogmatically right or left but more floating butterfly as per Louis Zurcher’s “Mutable Self” trying to exist in open process- open to ongoing learning, development, change, and progress toward a more humane future. Shaped by the basic principles of Classic Liberalism (Daniel Hannan’s “Inventing Freedom” or David Boaz’s “Libertarianism: A Primer”, etc.). Paraphrased as “Live and let live”.

And patience liberals/Democrats… After some early hard knocks for your side, the bothsideism element appears further below.

Intro note:

We dehumanize ourselves when we engage the projection of our faults onto others and then exaggeratingly demonize the differing others as “evil”. All sides of political and social divides exhibit such behavior. This social pathology has become so prominent over recent years- to view the differing other as an enemy and then to frame our disagreements in terms of us positioning ourselves on the purely righteous side and battling intolerable evil on the other side. Such framing deforms the hero’s quest. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Evaluating Donald Trump, Wendell Krossa

Whatever you think of Donald Trump as a person, and even his strongest supporters over the past have told him to tone down the nasty Tweets and vengeful comments about his opponents. But nonetheless (distinguishing person from policies), I don’t know if anyone else could have done what he did in his first term in courageously pushing back, for example, against the lunacy of climate alarmism and getting important things done like criminal justice reform, lowering business taxes across all sectors of business, deregulating at an unprecedented scale (Kevin O’Leary said the deregulation was more important than lowering taxes in stimulating businesses), and much more.

And contrary to Nancy Pelosi’s repeated assertion that Trump “just made the rich richer”, US government budget agencies noted that the highest percentage median income gains were made in the lowest quintile of the population, among other similar data.

Jordan Peterson has offered one of the best assessments of the man in recognizing his personal peculiarities, but then arguing that perhaps the very nature of the man is necessary in the current political atmosphere, both domestic and international.

Here is a reposting of some previous comment on this site:

“This is a very interesting analysis of Trump by Jordan Peterson, psychologist. Not entirely flattering but very interesting and balanced. I have felt the same. Trump can be upsetting at times (i.e. bullying) but “necessary” for the world that we live in today??

“Note Peterson’s comment on “no wars… the Abraham Accords…” that are still holding up. He asks- Why no praise for these amazing accomplishments of Trump? Most people allowed media to infuse them with such hysterical “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (Orange Monster, Hitler) they could not do any sort of rational analysis as Peterson does here.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo1GfKAKy6I

Add here that over past years, more and more Democrats exhibited increasing integrity in acknowledging the good things that Trump has done with his varied policies- i.e. Van Jones of CNN pushing back against a Jake Tapper rant and admitting that Trump’s policies benefitted minority communities- e.g. the opportunity zones, criminal justice reform, booming economy, low unemployment, etc. Democratic party business leaders also eventually admitted that his policies were helpful to the economy. And others have come (even though grudgingly) to acknowledge that his border policies were good, among other things.

Donald Trump once said something to the effect that he wanted to be considered a great president. I would suggest that key to gaining such status would be to abandon “his guiding ethic” of “eye for eye” retaliation (apparently his statement in one of his autobiographies which I have not read). I would encourage him to take the approach of Nelson Mandela to forgive “enemies” and work toward reconciliation with opponents, rejecting tribalism to include all equally in a better future as per Classic Liberal principles.

Topics in this section:

1. Eye for eye retaliation- Us at our most infantile and subhuman.
2. The central Jesus message- No more eye for eye, but instead, love your “enemy”.
3. True greatness- Win the inner battle against the real enemy inside each of us. Then do a Mandela- “Let us surprise them (our opponents) with our generosity”.
4. Links to varied comments on “bothsideism” and “onesideism” in creating the lethal atmosphere of tribal hatred that incites violence.

Read the rest of the opening comment here

See the comment below in this opening section on reviving Magna Carta principles to counter the excessive criminalizing and lawmaking trends of today (countering “moralizing busybodies”).

Note: To doubters of the fact that the most primitive of ancient mythical themes still dominate human narratives/worldviews today. I have posted below a brief list of these primitive themes for readers on the run who prefer quickie summaries. Others would say these themes are about “archetypes” of the subconscious. OK, but let me deal with this in a more street-level manner befitting my “independent commoner” status.

Paul embedded these pathological themes listed below in his Christ myth giving them respected status as ultimate religious or metaphysical/spiritual truth, thereby perpetuating the worst of mental pathology in human narratives and consciousness, especially for those of us in Western civilization.

Historical Jesus had previously severed the long historical tradition of mental/emotional enslavement to these personality-deforming themes by presenting a stunning new alternative- i.e. a non-retaliatory, unconditional God that should have become the cohering center of a new complex of supporting ideas, an entirely new narrative. His breakthrough insights could have sparked the greatest liberation movement in history if early Christians had understood him and embraced his core message. Then we would have gotten true “Jesus-ianity”, instead of the opposite- “Christ-ianity”.

It would have been profound liberation of mind and spirit from threat theology that deforms human personality with fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, despair, depression, nihilism, and violence.

Here again is a summary of the basic themes- the baddies, framed in terms of contemporary “secular/ideological” versions like environmental alarmism:

(1) There was a better past (i.e. the wilderness world before humanity and human civilization).
(2) Essentially “corrupt, greedy” people (“virus, cancer on the planet”) are consuming too much of Earth’s resources and are ruining the originally paradise world (this expresses an essential anti-humanism, hatred of humanity).
(3) Life is now declining toward a worsening state, even toward an apocalyptic ending.
(4) Humanity must make a sacrifice/payment and endure punishment for human sin- i.e. such as give up the good life in modern society and return to the “morally superior low consumption lifestyle”. Meaning- Embrace a retreat to primitivism framed as “de-growth, de-development”.
(5) Humanity must also purge life of some great “evil” threat (CO2 has been lasered in on as the chief marker of human sin today- i.e. human greed in using too much of Earth’s resources like energy. Try to comprehend the insane irrationality of demonizing the basic food of all carbon-based life as a “pollutant/poison”. Yes, Bill Maher, who did not attend Grade 1 science class, called CO2 a “poisonous gas”.).
(6) Only after embracing and fulfilling this salvation scheme can we then restore the lost paradise or achieve some new utopia (i.e. as in the Marxist restoration of original communalism with people re-engineered to become once again “Noble savage collectivist humans” liberated from the great evil of private property, “owning nothing and happy eating bugs”).

Added note on feature 3 above: “Life declining toward a worsening state” is the central feature of the primitive psychopathology of apocalyptic- “the most violent and destructive idea in history” (Arthur Mendel).

Historian Arthur Herman (“The Idea of Decline in Western History”) rightly states that the idea of “decline” is the most dominant and influential theme in today’s world. “Ten Global Trends” (Tupy and Bailey) affirms this dominance with world survey data.

Declinism dominates public consciousness worldwide despite the best evidence that reveals life is improving over the long-term and today we are living in “the best time ever to be alive on Earth” (Humanprogress.org, and of course- Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource”). Most notably, the life-distorting myth of declinism dominates the “profoundly religious” climate alarmism crusade.

Other historians have detailed the evidence that the primitive themes outlined above shaped and fueled Marxism, Nazism, and are now shaping environmental alarmism and driving its “salvation” scheme of Net Zero decarbonization. The salvation schemes (“save the world”) of apocalyptic movements have consistently “destroyed the world to save the world”.

Conclusion: We are not as advanced, or “secular/ideological”, as we like to imagine ourselves. Many of us would find ourselves clapping and cheering if we teleported back some 5000 years ago into a Sumerian temple where the priests droned on about Enlil, the waterworks god, who threatened to send a Great Flood to punish “too many people” (early “overpopulation bomb” nonsense) making “too much noise” (enjoying the good life too much). Too many of us still embrace those most primitive myths of an ancient past, even many with PhDs.

My list of Alternative themes to frame/shape/construct a more humane narrative:

http://www.wendellkrossa.com/?p=12043#more-12043

Topics below:

(1) Revive Magna Carta- The origins and main principles of Classic Liberalism that grant us the freedom and equality that we value today.

(2) The process of leaving my religion- example of death and rebirth in human story.

(3) The transformation of narratives, consciousness, and life at the “archetypal” level.

(4) James Tabor on the still dominant influence of Paul and his apocalyptic Christ myth on our lives and societies today. (Insert: And you wonder why apocalyptic continues to dominate Hollywood story-telling, media narratives of “climate apocalypse”, and resonating with the general population? Well, when Paul embedded that primitive mythical theme in his Christ myth, he gave apocalyptic supreme, unquestionable status “protected under the canopy of the sacred” in the most influential icon in Western consciousness and narratives, for two millennia. Not just influential in religious consciousness but also in “secular/ideological” consciousness, even in “scientific” consciousness.)

(5) The God obsessed with perfection- The baseline myth of “ruined original paradise” that sets the stage for all the rest of the complex of bad religious ideas- “lost paradise, corrupt humanity, life declining toward apocalypse, demanded salvation as sacrifice and purging, promise of restored paradise”.

(6) Goodies from Michael Shellenberger. And more…

Read the rest of the opening comment here

Why conservative politicians needed the spanking they got in Britain, Wendell Krossa

Rishi Sunak, lost the election in Britain. He illustrates a significant mistake made by many conservative politicians over past years, including the otherwise brave Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta. They engage some pushback against the madness of Net Zero Decarbonization, arguing the pace is too rushed and we will still need fossil fuels for some time yet. So slow down, eh.

But then they quickly turn on their heels, pivoting to affirm- But yes, there is a “climate crisis” and we must do something about “dangerous climate change”. Meaning, eventually cut off entirely the human use of fossil fuels.

What the fuck, eh? Do something? Have none of them ever looked at the most basic facts in climate science? Especially the “physics of CO2” and the fact that the CO2 warming effect is now “saturated” (a physics term). Listen to the most credible of atmospheric physicists- Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and others (posting their research at co2coalition.org). They are telling us that the CO2 effect is now saturated (i.e. the ability of more CO2 to operate in a narrow range on the long-wave infrared spectrum, absorbing and instantly re-emitting energy to make a very minor contribution to warming. This ability is now saturated).

So the climate physicists tell us that even a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere from today’s 420ish ppm to 800 ppm would not contribute much, if anything, to any further warming.

Conclusion? “Do something about fossil fuel emissions”? No, we don’t need to do anything except just adjust/adapt to whatever climate does and become fully woke to the fact that plentiful and cheap fossil fuels are critical to enable humanity to make such adaptations. So stop the irrational and insane war on carbon. C’mon, Danielle. Do some basic research on the fundamentals of climate science.

There is no good scientific reason to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies. Add here, to counter the insanity of alarmism over warming, that 10 times more people still die every year from cold than die from warming (Lancet study). Cold, not warming, is the great threat to life. Media- Where are you on these facts? And what about the hugely beneficial addition of 15% more green vegetation to the world since 1980, due to more aerial fertilization from the basic food of plant life- CO2? More food for animals, increased crop production for humanity. Again, media where are you on these critical facts?

The “madness” of climate alarmism. Yes, as related to Charles Mackay’s “Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”, as well as Douglas Murray’s more recent “The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity”. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Sitesplainin (more on going to root contributing factors in human narratives and the outcomes in human lives): Wendell Krossa

I have no “scientific” reputation to protect or maintain. That does not weaken my respect for good science. But I am an “independent and generalist”, taking helpful insights from anywhere and everywhere, using personal criteria to evaluate the usefulness (or “truthiness”) of any given insight or bit of information. Sources are always provided here for readers to evaluate.

This site unapologetically engages “spiritual” issues and deity theories. These have always been central to human curiosity and the primal human impulse to meaning- i.e. to understand and explain existence, reality, and the why and purpose of it all. As curious beings, we “have to” explore the nature of ultimate reality, ultimate ideals, and ultimate purpose. So, speculate away. Just recognize what you are doing- i.e. what is fairly settled evidence and what is speculation.

Moving back to the point here on engaging the metaphysical/spiritual…

Note for example (our irresistible urge to probe the metaphysical), in Manjit Kumar’s “Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, And The Great Debate About The Nature Of Reality”, how repeatedly Einstein offered religious explanations in his responses to Neils Bohr. “God doesn’t play dice… God doesn’t use telepathy (quantum entanglement)…”, etc.

Einstein held traditional theories of God as some great intervenor and controller of all things, hence his “doesn’t play dice” comment. That misunderstands the essential and inseparable relationship of love to freedom. The “indeterminacy” of quantum mechanics points to this element of freedom.

Einstein resisted what quantum mechanics was uncovering because he held very traditional, very primitive views of deity which did not fit with his dated views of what reality should be. He could not let go of his “Old Man” deity and that is part of why, later in his life, he was sidelined by the physics community.

Einstein stated that one fundamental thing drove his curiosity- i.e. to know what “the Old One thinks”. He said, “I want to know His thoughts; the rest are just details”. Interesting also that he wanted to spend the rest of his life probing light, much like NDEs are centrally about Light.

But a critical qualifier to this point on “spiritual” or deity ideas: I part ways with the long history of religious theories of God. This site embraces “stunningly inexpressible no conditions love” as the singularly defining feature of God. The single most profound insight that humanity has discovered. Read the rest of the opening comment here