Great Michael Crichton Speech on Environmental Wacko-ism

http://www.perc.org/publications/articles/Crichtonspeech.php ^

[scottybk]

I have been asked to talk about what I consider the most important challenge facing mankind, and I have a fundamental answer. The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.

We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we're told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems. Every one of us has a sense of the world, and we all know that this sense is in part given to us by what other people and society tell us; in part generated by our emotional state, which we project outward; and in part by our genuine perceptions of reality. In short, our struggle to determine what is true is the struggle to decide which of our perceptions are genuine, and which are false because they are handed down, or sold to us, or generated by our own hopes and fears.

[scottybk]

Crichton has a new book out this week about environmental wack-ism, etc.

[onedoug]

"The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing..." good from evil.

[concretebob]

I go back and read Congo every once in awhile. Crichton is so cool.

When you realize that Congo was written in 1980, and look at the technology now, its mind-blowing.

I think he has a time machine stashed somewhere.

[Gunrunner2]

Picked up the book today. Great read thus far.

[JosefK]

self-ping

[postliberal]

While I agree with some of what he says, I've always thought Crichton was a bit of a blow-hard. He writes crappy thrillers with "deep" underlying themes about science and morality, but they generally aren't all that deep or interesting. Not that I disagree with what he says here, some people do take environmentalism as a sort of religion. But his belief that we can avoid the politicization of science is laughable.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I'm going to be buying that book because my son is a big fan.

[DuncanWaring]

Crichton has a new book out this week about environmental wack-ism, etc.

Here's a link to a review of the book.

[blackie]

Amazon just shipped my copy, I'll be getting in on the 15th. :)

[dennisw]

Crichton has a new book out this week about environmental wack-ism, etc.

I read all his books. Ever read "Full Disclosure" and see the movie too?Both are great in their own rights. "Airframe" was good.  Crichton deserves all the success he gets. Politically correct is what he is NOT! He must be conservative but doesn't wear it on his sleeve.

[Drew68]

bump to read long but thus far rewarding essay later.

[vbmoneyspender]

thanks for posting that.

[silverleaf]

Crichton ping

[what's up]

Crichton was wrong in his predictions that Japan would take over the US economy. However, I like his take on this stuff.

[ml/nj]

Mostly good article but when I read this:

And what about indigenous peoples, living in a state of harmony with the Eden-like environment? Well, they never did. On this continent, the newly arrived people who crossed the land bridge almost immediately set about wiping out hundreds of species of large animals, and they did this several thousand years before the white man showed up, to accelerate the process. And what was the condition of life? Loving, peaceful, harmonious? Hardly: the early peoples of the New World lived in a state of constant warfare. Generations of hatred, tribal hatreds, constant battles. The warlike tribes of this continent are famous: the Comanche, Sioux, Apache, Mohawk, Aztecs, Toltec, Incas. Some of them practiced infanticide, and human sacrifice. And those tribes that were not fiercely warlike were exterminated, or learned to build their villages high in the cliffs to attain some measure of safety.

for me it sort of called into question the other things Crichton said.

I don't know about the "state of constant warfare," but the stuff about the crossing of the land bridge and setting out to wipe out hundreds of species of large animals is just as much "religion" as global warming is. (See: Red Earth, White Lies by Vine Deloria)

ML/NJ

[stevem]

I suspect Crichton won't be invited as a keynote speaker at the next Luddite Convention.

[Clovis_Skeptic]

He writes crappy thrillers with "deep" underlying themes about science and morality, but they generally aren't all that deep or interesting.

I just googled Chrichton, and found he has sold over 100 million books! So,eventhough you are entitled to your opinion, I would say you are in a real small minority.

I hope this book makes #1.

[Marine Inspector]

Very good read, thanks for posting it.

[Clypp]

My favorite author strikes again.

Good speech, and I agree with it.
Bump this!