Earth Day

I heard an interesting story on NPR about Earth Day. When it first started in the 1970's (1974?) there were protests, gatherings, and rallies across the country in support of conservation and preservation. Government responded to the will of the people and enacted many of the same environmental reforms we work with and are limited to today. (Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act) These 40 or so years later it seems like the recession turned the table- elements of government want to enact legislation to save the environment from climate change and pollution, but the will of the people has been dampened.
Why is there no popular movement to save the environment? Compassion fatigue? Disinterest? It's not like in the 60's and 70's people were individually more relevant and powerful in relation to their governments, it just seems like this generation (or the last few) have lost the dream and will to believe not only in progress and the impact of the individual, but in our right to dream and take that dream to government.
For me, Earth Day is a sad reminder of activism which has gone from being necessary and vital to unnecessary in the eyes of those who have the biggest difference to make.

What Motivates Me to Learn Chemistry

I am motivated to learn chemistry based on my yearning to end my study of the laboratory sciences by the time I am at a prestigious university (which would like me to know science). I am, in addition, interested in learning the fundamentals of chemistry as they might be applicable to other sciences- psychology, sociology, philosophy (ontology/epistemology, for ology's sake), that I will be more intrinsically interested in studying later. I do not, sadly but not regretfully, find the mechanics and casualties of chemistry to be fascinating, interesting, or often comprehensible or easily applicable for me, although, conceptually, I find other aspects intriguing.
Chemistry is probably not a subject I would take if I was given a totally open choice on what courses I could enroll in. However, it's necessary for the school's and college's curriculum, as well as my other potential future plans, and, as such, I strive to succeed in it, with mixed results.

Science and Politics

Science and politics are sometimes related in surprising ways. Other times, not so much. I will touch on two such topics today.
The first is the surprising. Science influences the effectiveness of politicians and politics in persuading people to elect them or go along with initiatives. The powers of persuasion are all very scientific. What people do and don't enjoy hearing, how they react, and whether they can be motivated to vote or act is all dependent on neurology. Some politicians study and adapt to these realities, while other simply harness it naturally.
The second, not so much. Stem cell research has been a major controversial issue in politics since research began, because conservatives are concerned it could lead to a type of cloning, and that it generally destroys the sanctity of life. However, innovations gleaned from stem cell research can in fact be used to help heal formerly terminal and irreparable diseases, potentially cancers, by regenerating healthy tissue. With a democrat in the White House, it seems that stem cell research will get another, controversial, chance.

Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics are simply ridiculous. For the basis of our daily lives to be built on something so beyond and incomprehensible relative to our daily lives makes absolutely no sense. Why wouldn't these same patterns and relative roles and relationships we interact in as humans work on a subatomic level? Could humans ever model subatomic interaction.
The particular subject I'd like to comment on is how ridiculous it is that we can't actually tell where electrons are, or if they even are. Can electrons tell where electrons are? The fact that something can definitely exist in an indefinite location seems slightly absurd, and almost impossible to believe. It might seem hard, but I believe I have to abandon my current way of categorizing/viewing the world to truly understand quantum mechanics.

Did you know video

Today I was asked to bear witness to statistics revealing all too clearly the unique challenges facing the next generation of people, students, and American students. Issues such as the smartest quarter of India's population being more than the total population of the United States, and the rate at which the amount of information known to man is growing pose unique challenges to the education system and students.
My junior high superintendent was fond of quoting a select group of statistics in the video- those covering the creation of new jobs, how we won't hold them, and how there will be too much to know, as part of emphasizing the curricular adaptations I have already been partaking in.
On whole, however, the video strikes some fear into me for the stability of my future, and what kind of job there will be, I'll be needed for with the influx of computers and foreigners, as well as how international affairs will be changed. My hope would be that the classic traits which have thus far withstood 300 years of industrialization, creativity and hard work, will help me find a place in a changed world, or at least create a system in which a place can be found.



Science also becomes more valuable, so I can know 2/4,000,000 of all scientific knowledge there will be, instead of 1/4,ooo,ooo. Like a complete idiot.