CONVENIENT MYTHS

AuthorHouse

Contents

Preamble............................11Introduction........................13The Great Myth......................17The Earth...........................33The Climate.........................45The Oceans..........................103Freshwater..........................119Some Chemistry......................135The Air.............................143Laws of Physics.....................159Energy..............................163Engines.............................203Food................................235The Sun.............................253The Weather.........................261Diseases............................267Progress............................273Bibliography........................275

Chapter One

One of the greatest myths of all began with alchemists, a long time ago. It pervades much of society's thinking today. The media are no less intrigued by it and like such stories. It is especially liked by many politicians.

This great myth is the idea that politics can direct scientific outcome; some journalists subscribe to this theory too.

Politicians everywhere like to believe that they can enact laws to rule scientific facts. If they just channel funds into the "right" direction, the research results will give them what they want. But they are all mistaken.

Initially, the "overwhelming evidence" (especially in the absence of any research to show the opposite), may "prove them right." However, eventually, more and more inconsistencies and problems arise. After a while then, despite all the efforts to prove their cause and implement solutions, based on the "overwhelming evidence," things do not work out as expected. Notwithstanding the resources dedicated to such ideas, the laws of nature cannot be broken. As W.G. Harding, a former president of the U.S. phrased it:

No statute enacted by man can repeal the inexorable laws of nature.

Despite what many politicians like to think, science should drive politics, not the other way around. I give examples of that throughout this book.

Many events, facts, observations, and changes can be mathematically correlated with others of that kind. Such correlations do not prove any cause-effect relationship whatsoever. Fortuitous relationships exist everywhere. Just to "prove" this fallacy, try on this silly correlation: Carbon dioxide levels have increased in the air above every nation on earth over the last 100 years. Similarly, the number of reported crimes committed has increased in the world over the last 100 years. Ergo, one concludes that there is a causative relationship between carbon dioxide in the air and the number of crimes committed. Of course, that is pure nonsense. But many politicians, media reporters and the public at large fall for that kind of reasoning. Most of them think that they not only understand the problem but also its cause and, naturally, they have a solution. More often than not, it starts with raising taxes, or borrowing money from future generations to spend on their "solution."

Alas, in the end most of these funds are wasted, valuable time is lost, and the problem has not been solved.

It is as much surprising as disconcerting to see how little interest there is by politicians in basic fact finding. Instead, they rely on claims by industries, reports in the media, statements by non-government organizations, movies, and the like. There is a definite lack of "due diligence."

In my estimate, over the last decade or so, various levels of governments in Canada alone could have saved several billions of dollars by spending just a few million dollars on that kind of exercise.

This brings us to the next topic: the role of governments.

The Role of Governments

Information & Propaganda

Governments have a dual role to fulfill. Apart from day-to-day governance, they have a legal and moral responsibility to collect and disseminate factual information to their citizenry. This may sound trivial, but for people living in less democratic societies, access to unbiased information is more difficult and not fostered by the state. In times of crises, most governments resort to highly biased reports as to the actual events. This is known as propaganda, a form of myth. For example, see items available at http://www.mediafreedominternational.org.

In World War I, governments on all sides had active propaganda departments. A detailed account relating to World War I propaganda is found at http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWwpb.htm. Some 400 propaganda posters supporting the war effort in the US can be viewed at http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/usa.htm.

The purpose, methods and efficacy of propaganda have been described by A. Hitler in Mein Kampf, translation by R. Manheim, available at: www.oldamericancentury.org/bb/index.-php?showtopic=19044:

The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan.

Even in times of peace and prosperity, in many democratic societies the governments and their agencies often fail to provide unbiased factual information to their citizenry. Sometimes, the governments do not even attempt to obtain such for their own enlightenment. You may find some of the following examples surprising:

Despite their push to alternative (electric) power generation, governments in North America have failed to collect and disseminate even the most rudimentary facts on wind or solar power generated electricity. There is not a single test-turbine for which all facts are available to the public or our politicians themselves. Instead, they rely on various industry- or media-sponsored statements and claims. Needless to say, such information is rarely complete and accurate. The full facts would have to include the cost of construction and maintenance, including associated infrastructure such as access roads and transmission lines, the actual wind speed and the actual energy fed into the electric grid. That information should be obtained and disseminated on at least on an hourly basis and it should be made available on the Internet for anyone to obtain and review.

Given the fact that both regional and federal politicians are constantly espousing "green" alternative energy sources (such as wind power), it is quite unfathomable that these politicians would not be pressing for such test systems and availability of the information at the very least for themselves, never mind for the public at large. Where are the due diligence reports for these ideas?

There are other examples of a total lack of pertinent factual tests and information to substantiate policies and government decisions. They are dealt with in more detail in the following sections and, therefore, are presented here only in point form below. To mention just a couple:

Greenhouse Gases

Governments need to provide accurate, timely and complete factual information to their citizenries. Anything else is propaganda, misinformation, or myth.

Economics

The world...