Sunday, January 10, 2010

"It's God's Plan..."

Sarah Palin, upon learning McCain had chosen her as his running mate, was not surprised because "It's God's Plan"!

However, she is simply expressing what many in the USA believe to be true, that "god works in mysterious ways", "the lord will provide", and simply "having "faith"" is enough...it goes straight to those who preach about "abundance" and how the "Power of Prayer" (if you are Really Really faithful) is all you need to get what you want in the world...(somehow forgetting all about "the meek inheriting the Earth", rich men and eyes of needles, etc.)...


However, that bit of trivia is only shared as a lead in, and one small example, that points to the REAL issue, and that is unwarranted, unsupported and incredible "optimism" that pervades the society in the USA.

It prevents many in the US to understand, acknowledge, and deal with the truly horrendous stuff that will be hitting the fan in the next few decades, as Humanity accelerates our disruption of the interconnected chemistry that supports living systems on Planet Earth.

Here's a terrific article from the Economist in December that deals with such unbridled optimism, and suggests merit in Pessimism!


So with that, I'll share one of the only jokes about engineers that I know...engineers just aren't that funny!

When observing a glass, with half of it's volume occupied by water, "normal" people see it as half empty, or half full, and thereby reveal their pessimistic or optimistic world view...However, when confronted with that same glass, engineers state, "The glass was mis-specified..."