That America is getting back to a life we once recognized, is a testimony to the power of science. What we have seen in this pandemic is the public witnessing scientific research in real time.
Science without the humanities leads to folly. Just because we can do it does not mean we should. In a time when the disciplines within the humanities, ethics, philosophy, etc., are under attack and seem to be losing the battle to STEM, I hope we realize their importance in guiding science and its trajectory in providing humane, ethical, and moral solutions to our problems.
And it is incorrect to lump you with media figures who squelch discussion of pubic safety-quite the opposite. Not familiar with Jon Stewart but maybe his influence was small. I share your frustration with irrationality and try to leave my clients thinking more rationally (and feeling better) than when they started.
This topic has generated a lot of controversy and I can appreciate the many points of view being articulated. That said, I recently saw a sign that said "timing is everything", and marveled about how absolutely true this is. While the lock-down was one of the most stressful events of my life-time, as it was for most people, the opening up stage is proving to be very stressful for a lot of people as well. For that reason, the timing of Stewart's rant I felt was extremely insensitive. I had to turn it off because after a certain point he just appeared unhinged. We are seeing so much unhinged behavior on the news right now, it was very dissapointing to listen to this coming from someone who knows better. Science is not the problem. The choices/behavior of humanity creates both problems and solutions.
Science and truth are not the same. Scientific knowledge is our closest approximation of truth pending further data that proves otherwise and forces new theories to emerge. The pandemic added concerns about collective impacts on beliefs and behaviors based on social and political dynamics. The levels of conspiracy and hoax theories, misleading information, and outright lies further complicated the issue of how we feel and speak about what the truth might be.
I am not surprised that Jon's statements have caused such debate, nor, I imagine, is he. He knew what he was doing, and felt it was necessary to balance the conversation. It could be said that science has already brought us to the edge of extinction via global warming, climate change, rising oceans, and massive releases of carbon.
Seems that I recall that someone sometime said there is nothing more dangerous than a little bit of knowledge.
It is not, usually, the scientists themselves, those investigating how things work, who cause the harm, but those who work on the applications of scientific discoveries, and those who profit from those applications. Nuclear power, for example.
That said, in a pandemic, it is and has been the scientists to whom we must turn to inform us, as they are investigating the reality of the causal virus, how it is spread, how it impacts human bodies, how spread might be mitigated, and how to develop effective vaccines quickly. The fact that perhaps 50% of the adult population seems to distrust science, being encouraged to do so by people to whom they grant power, seems to have caused a passionate and somewhat blind defense of science as if science can do know wrong.
I am extremely grateful for the scientific research, worldwide, that took off so quickly, and kept adjusting itself to each new discovery about the disease, the behavior of the virus, and the development of vaccines. It was confusing for us as the information changed, but that was inevitable. Their information was changing. That's what science does. Science is not truth, it is the persistent search for truth using the scientific method.
The “Mad Scientist” is a trope popularized by Mary Shelley in the early 19th century. Dr. Frankenstein begins a movement in literature and film that outweighs by far the real work that scientists do at their benches. To conduct real science is boring and tedious 95% of the time. Yet when results prove successful, i.e., repeatable, indisputable, the boredom is forgotten in the excitement of the new knowledge. In the public mind—which is way more familiar with the “Mad Scientist” from popular culture—this new knowledge or insight, especially if it is uncomfortable in any way, political or otherwise, is questioned by people who have no understanding of how science works. To play into this misunderstanding by joking about science is not only irresponsible—Jon Stewart should know better—it is downright disgusting.
To Craig O Thompson. You wrote a great piece. So much truth and a very great possibility of the origins.
Just a thought, Jon Stewart is a comedian. He and Steven Colbert grew up together in comedy. Jon needs to keep his name around the water cooler. They both had a satirical show for fun.
Science has produced miracles… saved us from Polio, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella…. And many more. We’ve been protected for so long our social conscience barely remembers how deadly those were. Science has allowed to walk on the moon! Explore other planets and to learn about the universe. It warns us when dangerous weather is on the way… We are blessed with awesome scientific discoveries and are supported by it in our daily lives. But we must also remember that science brought us nuclear weapons… that there have been dangerous scientists willing to experiment on people like Dr. Mengele in Nazi Germany, other German scientists who developed gas chambers to kill millions, the Tuskegee experiments, the LSD experiments. As with everything in life there are two sides to every coin. There is excellent science and then there is unethical, dangerous scientists. That is what makes it easy for me to be suspicious of the Wuhan lab. The Chinese government has tried to control its population for decades. Families were restricted to having only one child. I remember living in the time when over-population was considered a huge crisis. The restrictions of only one child led to methods of controlling the gender of babies and less female children were born…. Science can be both wonderful and dangerous. We can’t lose sight of that. It depends on leaders to encourage which way scientists will work. Hitler focused on the destruction of an entire race. During world wars both sides raced to develop weapons of mass destruction…. Chemical weapons, bio weapons, better rockets, better bombs. We must remember that both sides of the coin are true. Science is wonderful and saves millions every day. But it can also be dangerous. Jon Stewart had a point. We must be cautious of casting blame, yet we must know the possibilities. That does not mean all science is bad… far from it. But we have good reason to be cautious.
My perspective may be too simplified but I just feel that countries that brought hateful messaging into the pandemic scenario have ended up in very challenging situations. Politics has completely overshadowed the rules of science, the respect it deserves and the common sense behaviour science calls on us to display. Calling the pandemic a hoax, not getting on board with recommendations by professional folks who have done this for their entire careers, has been very disheartening and frankly eye rolling. World leaderships that followed the science and worked hard to bring it to their populations were trusted and believed. Nothing was done perfectly, but I feel in Canada we were told the truth and politics was not brought into the whole scenario. I think everybody in the entire world could have controlled the pandemic better from the sense of their personal practices, but to deny science and how it is trying to guide us, is so dangerous on so many fronts.
I agree with Mia. When John Stewart says science will kill us, let's think about the atom bomb. Nuclear weapons. But if you drill down deeper what will kill us are are individual and collective decisions, And those of the leaders of our countries.
I wholly support science and I am thankful for almost every moment of my life that is touched by science.
The bottom line is, we have to start taking our time on this planet seriously and focus on using science for good and following safety protocol. And remember there are a number of grays between black and white.
For those familiar with what makes a magician successful, one only need turn to the dictionary to define the terms “deflection” and “misdirection.” Both terms apply to politics, bad science, and—in this case—deadly pathogens that were developed (*not* without deadly accidents that killed unreported hundreds of its own human and animal populations), by 5000 former Soviet scientists (many escaped “quietly” to China, Iran, and North Korea, at the fall of the USSR) and 13000 “conscripted” workers, whose job it was to design and manufacture anthrax, tularemia, smallpox, tuberculosis, plague, and dozens of other deadly designer pathogens, along with options for dispersion… solely for deployment within the United States… at the super-secret “Biopreparat” (only one post-office box cleared communications in or out of 18 University-size Soviet campuses spread throughout the USSR that—for 20 years even the CIA did not know about).
Imagine a cocktail of three different pathogens mixed in one warhead (or other method of dispersion). When let loose upon a population, in the time it would take for any one the three to be identified by the CDC, for example, the other two pathogens would have already taken hold. And it was only a matter of time before “crazy science” would rule.
Jon Stewart out of place for taking his stance on Late Night With Stephen Colbert? Absolutely not.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, many leaders of the newly formed Independent States had absolutely no idea that their countries housed these deadly pathogens—stored in two and three-story stainless-steel vats (essentially unlocked for anyone of the Biopreparat’s scientists or other unscrupulous employees or penniless thieves to proffer on the open Black Market).
One of the largest labs survived, and is operational, as we debate from where the Covid-19 virus originated. Positioned just outside Moscow, the lab is now tightly / politically controlled by a despicable man, and format Soviet KGB, with the name of Vladimir Putin.
On August 11, 2001—one month to-the-day prior to 9/11—C-Span broadcast my keynote speech, “The Terrorist Cell Game” delivered to a body of world leaders and members of Congress, in Washington DC, at the International Platform Association conference… where I spoke openly about the Biopreparat, its deadly pathogens *and accidents*, and how the United States was *not* prepared to handle a pandemic—whether caused by accident… or spread intentionally.
I mention this because there has been an overload of theories that, when taken at face value, get lost in the subterfuge of ignorance and political deflection and misdirection. One only needs to dig deep into the history of the former Soviet / now Russian “Biopreparat” to understand how, and from where, this current viral and deadly scourge originated.
The most deviant weapon of war can easily cross borders—or be sent—out of sight and out of mind, without a shot being fired. More and more will be revealed, over time. But to put it bluntly, the Biopreparat was—and continues to be—in its newest Russian image, in defiance of everything sacred, the mother of all deadly designer pathogens. And it’s one of the easiest paths to political disruption available to any government willing to break all international laws, for their own political gain.
You’re right but the way I see it is artists and that includes comedians get a license to ask provocative questions and give provocative viewpoints. They do have a responsibility about spreading misinformation so you’re right there as well. But artists and this includes John Stewart can bring to forefront the essence of what you’re writing about with science and to whom it serves is not always just and equitable. Which I think is the subtext of comedians questioning how science technology adds a ton of unjust things. Some people get rich. Some get poor. Look at how our growing meritocracy and how it has affected academia. English departments get vastly underfunded so that computer science programs can invest in a new robot. The cultural studies programs have been gutted across the country for decades—this includes my 1990s alma mater Carnegie Mellon University— programs which provoked discussions on social injustice and racial politics and even the erosion of truth in an increasingly manipulated media by the billionaire moguls.
So that is the bigger picture. Science comes with a lot of baggage not because of the science. But because od the people and the inequalities that almost get resonated through technology.
No advancements since the pandemic of 1918? Yet the internet allowed most of them to keep their businesses going, and their children educated. And science developed several vaccines in less than a year. I never thought he was that short sighted.
Indeed, as climate change accelerates at a frightening pace, if mankind is to survive, it will be due to scientists finding ways to reverse the impending march toward an uninhabitable planet.
Dan - thank you for your commentary and historical perspective. I thought that Jon's "rant" was just satire. I got a few laughs out of his "reasoning". As you noted - we aren't getting information on the origins. Perhaps I was naïve in thinking that his rant was simply comedy. I believe, as you do, that science is so important and the scientific process ultimately works. I guess people can take what they want from his rant. We have seen that some people shape facts or make up "facts" to suit their purposes regardless of what comedians (or scientists) say.
Science without the humanities leads to folly. Just because we can do it does not mean we should. In a time when the disciplines within the humanities, ethics, philosophy, etc., are under attack and seem to be losing the battle to STEM, I hope we realize their importance in guiding science and its trajectory in providing humane, ethical, and moral solutions to our problems.
And it is incorrect to lump you with media figures who squelch discussion of pubic safety-quite the opposite. Not familiar with Jon Stewart but maybe his influence was small. I share your frustration with irrationality and try to leave my clients thinking more rationally (and feeling better) than when they started.
This topic has generated a lot of controversy and I can appreciate the many points of view being articulated. That said, I recently saw a sign that said "timing is everything", and marveled about how absolutely true this is. While the lock-down was one of the most stressful events of my life-time, as it was for most people, the opening up stage is proving to be very stressful for a lot of people as well. For that reason, the timing of Stewart's rant I felt was extremely insensitive. I had to turn it off because after a certain point he just appeared unhinged. We are seeing so much unhinged behavior on the news right now, it was very dissapointing to listen to this coming from someone who knows better. Science is not the problem. The choices/behavior of humanity creates both problems and solutions.
Science and truth are not the same. Scientific knowledge is our closest approximation of truth pending further data that proves otherwise and forces new theories to emerge. The pandemic added concerns about collective impacts on beliefs and behaviors based on social and political dynamics. The levels of conspiracy and hoax theories, misleading information, and outright lies further complicated the issue of how we feel and speak about what the truth might be.
I am not surprised that Jon's statements have caused such debate, nor, I imagine, is he. He knew what he was doing, and felt it was necessary to balance the conversation. It could be said that science has already brought us to the edge of extinction via global warming, climate change, rising oceans, and massive releases of carbon.
Seems that I recall that someone sometime said there is nothing more dangerous than a little bit of knowledge.
It is not, usually, the scientists themselves, those investigating how things work, who cause the harm, but those who work on the applications of scientific discoveries, and those who profit from those applications. Nuclear power, for example.
That said, in a pandemic, it is and has been the scientists to whom we must turn to inform us, as they are investigating the reality of the causal virus, how it is spread, how it impacts human bodies, how spread might be mitigated, and how to develop effective vaccines quickly. The fact that perhaps 50% of the adult population seems to distrust science, being encouraged to do so by people to whom they grant power, seems to have caused a passionate and somewhat blind defense of science as if science can do know wrong.
I am extremely grateful for the scientific research, worldwide, that took off so quickly, and kept adjusting itself to each new discovery about the disease, the behavior of the virus, and the development of vaccines. It was confusing for us as the information changed, but that was inevitable. Their information was changing. That's what science does. Science is not truth, it is the persistent search for truth using the scientific method.
The “Mad Scientist” is a trope popularized by Mary Shelley in the early 19th century. Dr. Frankenstein begins a movement in literature and film that outweighs by far the real work that scientists do at their benches. To conduct real science is boring and tedious 95% of the time. Yet when results prove successful, i.e., repeatable, indisputable, the boredom is forgotten in the excitement of the new knowledge. In the public mind—which is way more familiar with the “Mad Scientist” from popular culture—this new knowledge or insight, especially if it is uncomfortable in any way, political or otherwise, is questioned by people who have no understanding of how science works. To play into this misunderstanding by joking about science is not only irresponsible—Jon Stewart should know better—it is downright disgusting.
To Craig O Thompson. You wrote a great piece. So much truth and a very great possibility of the origins.
Just a thought, Jon Stewart is a comedian. He and Steven Colbert grew up together in comedy. Jon needs to keep his name around the water cooler. They both had a satirical show for fun.
Science has produced miracles… saved us from Polio, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella…. And many more. We’ve been protected for so long our social conscience barely remembers how deadly those were. Science has allowed to walk on the moon! Explore other planets and to learn about the universe. It warns us when dangerous weather is on the way… We are blessed with awesome scientific discoveries and are supported by it in our daily lives. But we must also remember that science brought us nuclear weapons… that there have been dangerous scientists willing to experiment on people like Dr. Mengele in Nazi Germany, other German scientists who developed gas chambers to kill millions, the Tuskegee experiments, the LSD experiments. As with everything in life there are two sides to every coin. There is excellent science and then there is unethical, dangerous scientists. That is what makes it easy for me to be suspicious of the Wuhan lab. The Chinese government has tried to control its population for decades. Families were restricted to having only one child. I remember living in the time when over-population was considered a huge crisis. The restrictions of only one child led to methods of controlling the gender of babies and less female children were born…. Science can be both wonderful and dangerous. We can’t lose sight of that. It depends on leaders to encourage which way scientists will work. Hitler focused on the destruction of an entire race. During world wars both sides raced to develop weapons of mass destruction…. Chemical weapons, bio weapons, better rockets, better bombs. We must remember that both sides of the coin are true. Science is wonderful and saves millions every day. But it can also be dangerous. Jon Stewart had a point. We must be cautious of casting blame, yet we must know the possibilities. That does not mean all science is bad… far from it. But we have good reason to be cautious.
I think Jon Stewart was hilarious poignant and right on point
My perspective may be too simplified but I just feel that countries that brought hateful messaging into the pandemic scenario have ended up in very challenging situations. Politics has completely overshadowed the rules of science, the respect it deserves and the common sense behaviour science calls on us to display. Calling the pandemic a hoax, not getting on board with recommendations by professional folks who have done this for their entire careers, has been very disheartening and frankly eye rolling. World leaderships that followed the science and worked hard to bring it to their populations were trusted and believed. Nothing was done perfectly, but I feel in Canada we were told the truth and politics was not brought into the whole scenario. I think everybody in the entire world could have controlled the pandemic better from the sense of their personal practices, but to deny science and how it is trying to guide us, is so dangerous on so many fronts.
Get a grip you're taking yourself way too seriously
I agree with Mia. When John Stewart says science will kill us, let's think about the atom bomb. Nuclear weapons. But if you drill down deeper what will kill us are are individual and collective decisions, And those of the leaders of our countries.
I wholly support science and I am thankful for almost every moment of my life that is touched by science.
The bottom line is, we have to start taking our time on this planet seriously and focus on using science for good and following safety protocol. And remember there are a number of grays between black and white.
For those familiar with what makes a magician successful, one only need turn to the dictionary to define the terms “deflection” and “misdirection.” Both terms apply to politics, bad science, and—in this case—deadly pathogens that were developed (*not* without deadly accidents that killed unreported hundreds of its own human and animal populations), by 5000 former Soviet scientists (many escaped “quietly” to China, Iran, and North Korea, at the fall of the USSR) and 13000 “conscripted” workers, whose job it was to design and manufacture anthrax, tularemia, smallpox, tuberculosis, plague, and dozens of other deadly designer pathogens, along with options for dispersion… solely for deployment within the United States… at the super-secret “Biopreparat” (only one post-office box cleared communications in or out of 18 University-size Soviet campuses spread throughout the USSR that—for 20 years even the CIA did not know about).
Imagine a cocktail of three different pathogens mixed in one warhead (or other method of dispersion). When let loose upon a population, in the time it would take for any one the three to be identified by the CDC, for example, the other two pathogens would have already taken hold. And it was only a matter of time before “crazy science” would rule.
Jon Stewart out of place for taking his stance on Late Night With Stephen Colbert? Absolutely not.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, many leaders of the newly formed Independent States had absolutely no idea that their countries housed these deadly pathogens—stored in two and three-story stainless-steel vats (essentially unlocked for anyone of the Biopreparat’s scientists or other unscrupulous employees or penniless thieves to proffer on the open Black Market).
One of the largest labs survived, and is operational, as we debate from where the Covid-19 virus originated. Positioned just outside Moscow, the lab is now tightly / politically controlled by a despicable man, and format Soviet KGB, with the name of Vladimir Putin.
On August 11, 2001—one month to-the-day prior to 9/11—C-Span broadcast my keynote speech, “The Terrorist Cell Game” delivered to a body of world leaders and members of Congress, in Washington DC, at the International Platform Association conference… where I spoke openly about the Biopreparat, its deadly pathogens *and accidents*, and how the United States was *not* prepared to handle a pandemic—whether caused by accident… or spread intentionally.
I mention this because there has been an overload of theories that, when taken at face value, get lost in the subterfuge of ignorance and political deflection and misdirection. One only needs to dig deep into the history of the former Soviet / now Russian “Biopreparat” to understand how, and from where, this current viral and deadly scourge originated.
The most deviant weapon of war can easily cross borders—or be sent—out of sight and out of mind, without a shot being fired. More and more will be revealed, over time. But to put it bluntly, the Biopreparat was—and continues to be—in its newest Russian image, in defiance of everything sacred, the mother of all deadly designer pathogens. And it’s one of the easiest paths to political disruption available to any government willing to break all international laws, for their own political gain.
You’re right but the way I see it is artists and that includes comedians get a license to ask provocative questions and give provocative viewpoints. They do have a responsibility about spreading misinformation so you’re right there as well. But artists and this includes John Stewart can bring to forefront the essence of what you’re writing about with science and to whom it serves is not always just and equitable. Which I think is the subtext of comedians questioning how science technology adds a ton of unjust things. Some people get rich. Some get poor. Look at how our growing meritocracy and how it has affected academia. English departments get vastly underfunded so that computer science programs can invest in a new robot. The cultural studies programs have been gutted across the country for decades—this includes my 1990s alma mater Carnegie Mellon University— programs which provoked discussions on social injustice and racial politics and even the erosion of truth in an increasingly manipulated media by the billionaire moguls.
So that is the bigger picture. Science comes with a lot of baggage not because of the science. But because od the people and the inequalities that almost get resonated through technology.
No advancements since the pandemic of 1918? Yet the internet allowed most of them to keep their businesses going, and their children educated. And science developed several vaccines in less than a year. I never thought he was that short sighted.
Indeed, as climate change accelerates at a frightening pace, if mankind is to survive, it will be due to scientists finding ways to reverse the impending march toward an uninhabitable planet.
Dan - thank you for your commentary and historical perspective. I thought that Jon's "rant" was just satire. I got a few laughs out of his "reasoning". As you noted - we aren't getting information on the origins. Perhaps I was naïve in thinking that his rant was simply comedy. I believe, as you do, that science is so important and the scientific process ultimately works. I guess people can take what they want from his rant. We have seen that some people shape facts or make up "facts" to suit their purposes regardless of what comedians (or scientists) say.