Posted on 12/29/2012 2:12:28 PM PST by neverdem
Excellent and true. Science Left Behind is a very good read.
Another example: “Guns, Germs and Steel”. Short premise is: why did civilization develop in some areas but not others, accelerate in certain areas but not others and a few reach great heights? Civilization required high calorie domesticable grains, which many areas lacked. Agriculture provided the way to support a population, but draft animals provided labor. The Maya and Inca were held back by having no large draft animals, only the llama and dogs.
Then for civilization to truly advance, you need cultural interchange. Why reinvent the wheel if you can learn about it from your neighbors? China and India exchanged ideas with the Middle East. North Africa, the Romans and the Middle East exchanged ideas. This is why China, India and the Mediterranean reached the heights of civilization while MesoAmerica was one to two millennia behind - a lack of cultural interchange.
Sound theory, reasonable premises.
Now skip to the same author’s book. Stone age children rearing is superior to modern child raising, except for the child abuse, child mortality and lack of hygiene. No scientific studies to back his claims, only lots of anecdotes. “They seem happier,” though many children have burns on their fingers as a testament to parents letting them learn through painful experience to stay away from fire. Nor does he mention that many girls are raped while boys “naturally figure out sex”.
There's Silent Spring and the outlawing of DDT, based entirely on junk science. That alone has lead to millions of malaria deaths.
How about the junk science over IUD's and silicone breast implants? So much for the Left believing women should have the final say about their bodies.
Or the biggest hoax of all, going all the way back to the 18th Century - the population bomb. Malthus and Ehrlich claimed population increased exponentially but food production only arithmetically. They were wrong about the latter. Average daily calorie intake worldwide has increased ever since the end of WWII and will continue to increase unless the Left manages to destroy the Green Revolution, which they are trying to do. Oh, and even the UN admits worldwide population will level off by 2050.
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