Thursday, July 9, 2015, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)
People surely had much to say on the subject of race in the last meeting and we ran out of time. Sherman has agreed to continue the discussion in first hour the upcoming meeting. Vince, who was originally scheduled, will still get his time at the last 30 minutes of the meeting. I am looking forward to both talks; see you there.
What is Vince's topic? I may get there in time for the last part, but not sure.
ReplyDeleteSkye:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your inquiry. I want to take a brief portion of 30 minutes at the next session to discuss some of the topics we've covered in the past from a historical point of view.
As a non-hard scientist I find that I have difficulty understanding the science and some Ted talks and other discussions. I also believe that there can be historical analysis to complement current science in policy making.
I will select some of the topics that our group has already covered in the last several weeks by raising questions from an historical context on them e.g. energy production, global warming, and race.
Let me share a request I emailed Michael.
. June 24, 2015
Michael this note is a follow-up to my email you about leading a portion of a zoom- in session. I suspect I will need no more than 30 minutes, although we could discuss the topic and time further.
At our June 18 session there was a TED debate between an advocate for nuclear power versus a supporter of renewable energy in the production of electricity. As I understood the debate, it had to do with pursuing policies for producing energy that would address both electricity needs of the future and in the goal of contributing minimally to pollution. From my perspective, the TED debate and the following group discussion were primarily from a scientific point of view. In my view producing electricity either in the United States or globally is a policy issue. I believe public policy involves a lot more than scientific inquiry. I wanted to make a few observations at the end of the meeting but time was short. I thought a follow-up to the debate at a future meeting would be more appropriate.
I share a few ideas for what I would present. I would start the meeting with a VINCE TALK ( I’ve never conducted a TED talk) for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. I would use an historical example based upon polio to highlight how an historical point of view would shed new perspectives on how any public policy might be approached. I use polio as an example only because I have been writing about polio and am familiar with some of the aspects of how it was approached as public policy. I would then lead a 15 minute discussion on public policy including the production of electricity. Other examples could be used in discussing public policies. Individuals could take their pick of public policies that interest them. I will argue that historical analysis can enlighten our understanding of such issues as fulfilling energy needs, limiting economic inequality, eliminating racial prejudice , increasing Internet security, reducing air and water pollution and many other issues or public problems.
My argument is straightforward. By looking to the past we can better gauge how to approach future issues. Embedded in this approach is the question of how far back one needs to one look, and what do we need to select from the past to guide us in future action. (If we are to connect the dots, which dots do we connect?)
The following quote from Daniel Boorstin, "Hidden History," eloquently sets the context for our discussion:
“A romantic philosopher once said that the Historian is the Prophet in Reverse. When we become historians, we are seduced by the prophet’s temptations-- to pretend to be wiser than we really are, and to underestimate the probability of the unexpected. But History should be our Cautionary Science. Our past is only a little less uncertain than our future, and, like the future is always changing, always revealing and concealing. We might better think of Prophecy as History in Reverse.”
I would start with a few opening remarks and then draw a historical timeline for how polio was attacked as a health problem. Our group could then discuss any number of issues that were raised; or issues concerning policies that interest them. We may as a group, return to policies for generating electricity.
Vince