Thursday, June 9, 2016

A Satirical Indictment

Last night I had dinner with some of my retired teacher friends, two of whom used to make my lunch hours at school the highlight of my day, given our discussions on a wide array of topics. Indeed, my eyes glazed over and I repaired to my classroom only when they talked about golf or hockey, which was mercifully infrequently.

Last night was no different, as we tried to understand the allure of Donald Trump and the propensity of our species to plunge headlong towards climate doom. I won't bore you with the details, but this morning I fortuitously came upon the following satire that perhaps cuts too close to the bone:


Scientists: Earth Endangered by New Strain of Fact-Resistant Humans

Scientists have discovered a powerful new strain of fact-resistant humans who are threatening the ability of Earth to sustain life, a sobering new study reports.

The research, conducted by the University of Minnesota, identifies a virulent strain of humans who are virtually immune to any form of verifiable knowledge, leaving scientists at a loss as to how to combat them.

“These humans appear to have all the faculties necessary to receive and process information,” Davis Logsdon, one of the scientists who contributed to the study, said. “And yet, somehow, they have developed defenses that, for all intents and purposes, have rendered those faculties totally inactive.”

More worryingly, Logsdon said, “As facts have multiplied, their defenses against those facts have only grown more powerful.”

While scientists have no clear understanding of the mechanisms that prevent the fact-resistant humans from absorbing data, they theorize that the strain may have developed the ability to intercept and discard information en route from the auditory nerve to the brain. “The normal functions of human consciousness have been completely nullified,” Logsdon said.

While reaffirming the gloomy assessments of the study, Logsdon held out hope that the threat of fact-resistant humans could be mitigated in the future. “Our research is very preliminary, but it’s possible that they will become more receptive to facts once they are in an environment without food, water, or oxygen,” he said.

4 comments:

  1. It may be satire, Lorne. But it has the aura of fact about it. Welcome back.

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    1. Thanks, Owen. It certainly is only peripherally satire, isn't it?

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  2. Well, Lorne, how many "documentaries" have come out of the U.S. on the Lost City of Atlantis? 15, 20, more? Pretty soon they won't have to fake it anymore.

    And wouldn't it be grand if the piece you posted was actually satirical? I'm not sure it is. Look at all the records that have been utterly smashed over the past half year, over the past 16 years. Just about completely down the Memory Hole today.

    If that "climate departure" materializes as forecast, climate change may get some real traction. If an angry, divided America has to choose between allowing a mass migration out of the south or the incredibly brutal alternative (the one Gwynne Dyer claims the Pentagon has evaluated), what will they do?

    As I mentioned yesterday, you and I were never supposed to live long enough to see this unfold. Yeah, well...

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    1. As I have indicated to you before, Mound, I am now very, very gloomy over humanity's future prospects, and I see little reason to hope that a new awareness will arise before it is utterly too late. I was watching the news last night, and motorists were asked their reaction to Kathleen Wynne's climate plan, specifically the part that will see gas prices rise over 4 cents a litre next year. While some expressed guarded approval, others dismissed it because it was going to cost them too much.

      I rest my case.

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