Conservative and Liberal political commentary are largely brainwashing America. When a good solution to anything is developed it is essential to consider the concerns and desires of all involved. When people believe that republicans wear golden halos and democrats are scum, or that republicans are scum and democrats are holy, one misses the boat. It is difficult to imagine any individual whose entire ideology matches more than 3/4 of what eitehr of these groups stand for. Each has its ideas that are good or bad, effective or not effective, and even bought by the highest bidding superpac. The idea that any far right or left individual is willing to objectively consider the ideas of the other side is not very likely. However, I believe that a large chunk of the voter-base simply have been fenced off from the ideas of the other side, although willing to objectively consider evidence posed in a manner that they can understand and consider.
Even among academics, who should be the most objective and the least part-bound citizens, there is an obvious filtering of political information or ideas often composed of notions that are simply not correct. One thing Trump is right about, you cannot trust the information posed in the media. Why? much of it is biased, at least some of it is completely wrong, and much of it is slanted to support one side or the other. IF all you hear is one side of the story (in politics), you are probably grossly misinformed. Everyone needs to review what was really said and in what context when they hear an accusation or contention in regard to politicians,...on both sides of the aisle. As scientists, we should be politically agnostic. Equally willing to help either side, consider each side's ideas, and assist in developing solutions that resolve disagreements instead of amplifying them. These are imperfect parties composed of imperfect people, just as we scientists are imperfect. The extreme isolation of ideas that is promoted by both liberal and conservative news media is in many ways fueling this problem. I suspect that if you took the conservative half of democrats and the liberal half of republicans, that we would find there is more in common among those two groups than with the far right or left of their own parties. Hence, engaging misinformed environmental/ecological ideas that are not in line with current dogma should be effective for eliciting progress. This assumes my suspicion about information isolation and ideological affinities is even close to accurate. We cannot continue on the current path we are on. Each new term cannot involve rash overturn of policies replaced by other extreme policies. Such instability can only lead to an upheaval of governmental stability and effectiveness. Stable policies are more effective, even if they do not satisfy the full needs of all involved, and they assist in economic stability as well. You can't always get what you want, but sometimes, you get what you need. (sounds like a song lyric? RS!). THis philosophy needs to be incorporated into our political system rather than my way or the highway. Getting half of what you want is better than nothing, and sometimes it ends up better than all of what you wanted... because some of what you wanted was simply wrong. Admitting some of your own ideas can and are probably wrong is the first step to negotiation in politics and life. More of us need to use this as a position of power to elicit progress instead of assuming we have all the answers about everything. On Wed, Jul 19, 2017 at 9:24 PM, Peter Morrison <[email protected]> wrote: > The Big Question: Is it possible to change the minds of people that listen > to and believe Rush Limbaugh? This would be a great scientific study. > Perhaps some scientist could determine the success rate of various methods > for changing minds of his listeners? The results would be very interesting! > > > Kind regards, Peter Morrison > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Perrine > Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2017 3:47 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Limbaugh belittles extinction crisis > > Apparently, some people think Rush Limbaugh "is a big fat idiot." > > https://www.amazon.com/Rush-Limbaugh-Big-Fat-Idiot/dp/0440508649 > > While Malcolm's points are undoubtedly valid, I wonder who of the folks > that > listen to Rush Limbaugh will find them compelling. We can preach to our > choir, but I wonder if we'll change any minds, especially among those who > think we academics are pointy-headed whiners who worship trees and are > ultimately trying to destroy the American economy. > > If anything, you could send this thread and its supporting evidence to Al > Franken to use in his next book, read into the Congressional Record, etc. > > - John P. > > > John D. Perrine, PhD > Associate Professor / Curator of Mammals and Birds > Biological Sciences Department > California Polytechnic State University > San Luis Obispo, California USA 93407-0401 > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Aquaculture and Water Quality Research Scientist School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences Langston University Langston, Oklahoma Link to online CV and portfolio : https://www.visualcv.com/malcolm-mc-callum?access=18A9RYkDGxO Google Scholar citation page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lOHMjvYAAAAJ&hl=en Academia.edu: https://ui-springfield.academia.edu/MalcolmMcCallum/Analytics#/activity/overview?_k=wknchj Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malcolm_Mccallum/reputation?ev=prf_rep_tab <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malcolm_Mccallum/reputation?ev=prf_rep_tab> Ratemyprofessor: http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=706874 *Confidentiality Notice:* This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. “*Nothing is more priceless and worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans.* ” *-President Richard Nixon upon signing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 into law.* "*Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive*" -* Allan Nation* *1880's: *"*There's lots of good fish in the sea*" W.S. Gilbert *1990's:* Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction *MAY* help restore populations. 2022: "Soylent Green is People!" Charleton Heston as Detective Thorn 2022: "People were always awful, but their was a world once, and it was beautiful.' Edward G. Robinson as Sol Roth. The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle
