A message to my grandchildren
THINKING ABOUT LIFE
Growing up can be
difficult. You hear so many people telling you what to think and do.
Some of it is wise: some
of it stupid.
You will often hear that
you are not important as a person - only as a member of a team or group.
This is called Identity
Politics. For example, your school probably displays notices claiming There is no ‘I’
in team.
You may agree with it yet
notice that there is an ‘i’ in Winner.
You will be told that you
must fit in with what the group thinks – even when you think it is wrong. You also
notice that 'group think' is constantly changing to fit the latest fashion or fad.
You may find yourself
becoming confused or angry with all this changing advice. One reason is that a
voice deep inside you keeps saying that it’s not true. You want to believe in
yourself and have your own thoughts. Another reason is that you notice that
great men and women became great by daring to think their own way rather than
following a crowd: e.g., Galileo, Shakespeare, Newton and Einstein.
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN PERSON
Develop a personal
philosophy - the way you think about life. We are not given one as a child and
have to develop our own, as I’ve done. I am not suggesting you accept mine, but
I hope it may help you to think about yourself and the way you interact with
others. Then write your own.
MY PHILOSOPHY
·
I am an individual human
being.
·
I regard everyone else as a
unique individual – not because of their sex, family, crowd, tribe or race.
·
I like some
individuals but not all. I base this on what they think, say and do rather than
their ‘tribe’.
·
First impressions of an
individual are not a good guide. Feelings often change over time so I reserve
judgements until they become clearer.
·
I often enjoy being part of
a team, but I remain a unique individual with my own thoughts and beliefs.
·
I believe it is right to do
what I want as long as I don’t hurt or upset reasonable individuals.
WHAT TO BELIEVE?
The way to believe what
you hear or are told is to ask questions like these:
·
Is it FACT or THEORY?
·
What is the EVIDENCE?
·
What are the SOURCES? Are
they credible and from trustworthy organisations?
·
What is the scientific
basis? This needs to include History, Geography and Biology.
·
Are there other Facts to
explain a Theory?
·
Is there even one Fact which
contradicts a Theory? If there is, then it is untrue or incomplete.
HOW TO LIE WITH GRAPHS
I'm known as a Climate
Change Denier. This is because I prefer Facts to Theories - but beware. Even
Facts can be presented to deceive.
You will constantly see
graphs in newspapers and on TV claiming to prove that weather changes are
'caused by humans' (anthropogenic) and that the world is hotter than it has ever
ever been. Before accepting the graphs, check that they are not using any of
these common tricks designed to deceive:
-
No Sources of Data. This
means the 'facts' cannot be checked so can be distorted or simply invented. Used
a lot in Social Media.
-
Fiddling the timescale on
the x axis. Select a starting point which supports a story and ignore others
which do not - like this:
-
Using computer forecasts instead of observed
data. Another word for forecast is 'guess'. Computer models (see below) can be made to forecast anything; it all
depends on the assumptions put in to the computer and the algorithms used. These
vary widely in organisations, hence the forecasts vary widely and, in climate
'science', are useless.
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