Those who studied, and remember what they learned, might know about a phenomenon called stiction. From Wikipedia:
"Stiction is the static friction that needs to be overcome to enable relative motion of stationary objects in contact. The term is a portmanteau of the term "static friction", perhaps also influenced by the verb "stick"." Politicians are prone to stiction. It takes a huge and undeniable event to make them do anything other than look after their own interests, even if their interests are altruistic and noble. Climate change has been deniable, COVID-19 isn't. The danger is that the biggest threat is our politicians trying to return us to some form of normality, when the reality is we need to invent a new normal. Which is when the politicians will probably revert to form and ignore informed advice by selecting the advisers who tell them what they want to hear. It could be argued that it would be better to not find a vaccine because it would require governments to deal with a clear and present danger - which is harder to deny. Getting them to deal with climate change will be harder - it happens more slowly and they will be distracted by the virus, although some consequences of the virus are having a beneficial impact on the environment. On 27/04/2020 9:31 am, Kim Holburn wrote: > https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/26/what-if-covid-19-isnt-our-biggest-threat > >> Experts who assess global peril saw a pandemic coming, but they have > worse worries for humanity > -- Regards brd Bernard Robertson-Dunn Canberra Australia email: [email protected] _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
