 16 Apr 2010 @ 21:01, by Heiner Benking
Yesterdays eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano called back lasting memories, a story from 1988, where in the press conference Prof. Degens was not ready to paint a icture a lasting nightmare of an overheated planet or ice-age planet.
The media pushed hard but he refused to paint a nighmare scenario, as this would not be science he said roughly, the media should look back in earth history and make out there own conclusion, he only mentioned later that new might be only the degree of possible rapid change.
For people in environmental research this is obvious if we think twice, but it was for the media something they angrily commented: Scientists not telling what to expect and what is going on !
Now 22 year later this looks funny, now we know, even created possible ceilings and guard rails, as politics were more demanding than media, to have scientist do the forecast or outlook requested. But what is this IPCC knows and can predict the Future, specially when there are obviously only futures in plural and can not be predicted Neither in natural nor in social and cultural human worlds !
This is not a contrarian view ! I was reading with Ernst Ulrich von Weiszsäcker about CONTRARIANS already in the late 80ies, when he was in Bonn and Brussels, about these denying "CONTRARIANS" who refused to consider man-made impacts - on this considered stable and endless system of Planet Earth !
What an ignorance ! please see this article soon hitting the streets: "ignorance or compassion" [link] or the work on GLOBAL CHANGE we introduced in late May 1990. Please wait for May 30th "Challenges to Science and Politics" touring exhibition.
At this point I can only link to the exhibition [link] and EARTH IN TROUBLE ! [link] and check Human Dimensions and Human Responsibility with time and space horizons (Hans Jonas)http://benking.de/jonas-1993.html , as this is the time, likt with Mount StHelen where we can experience natures ! non-point polution impacts!
Why I call this piece? Last call / Final Calling ? Because I think we should follow up on this question: Do we need "New Science, new Language, new Thinking ?
HOW ABOUT? OLD and proven, traditional and NEW Thinking and Doing and Sharing ? [link]
please come back later - we had challenging days these days and years and need to step back, consider deep and other questions and answers
Meanwhile follow the links and consider what the founder of this encyclopedia of systems and cybernetics said about complexity, surprise and predictability when we introduced the new edition:
[link] and maybe these concepts to consider being concrete and share common frames and schemas: [link]
In Santa Fe we learned that the more we study complexity, the more we are perplexed ! So let us step back, check the issues and context and not not consider we know whne we do not ! - or just need to meet at certain number to be safe and can continue to muddle trough as always, all heads deeep in the sands, fogs, dust, ashes....
Finally, what we experience today is not the last call ! Nature as icon in time has experienced much worse in times, but humanity is getting more fragile ever day, so we have to be on the watch on the proportions and consequences, the potential infliction of suffering. [link]
MORE about the CLOUD here: [link]
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