*facepalm*

I went into science education for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I think the natural world is beautiful, and the more one learns about it, the more beauty one sees. That's the motivation for this blog--there's a lot of beauty that is out there, but it's under a microscope or hidden by the obscure verbiage of science writing. I find something pretty, I want to share.

The other reason I gravitated towards education rather than research is that I want an educated society. There's so much in this modern world where even a smidge of education--let alone acknowledgement of reality--is useful, that I feel an obligation to work towards that end.

I can take this latter motivation personally. When I see something that militates against understanding--say, a presidential debate for a party that boasts the support of approximately half of the nation, in which the default position is either a flat-out rejection of science or at best mealy-mouthed equivocation*--I take it as a personal affront. When a big chunk of society does it, I can feel a bit rejected. So I'm in a bit of funk today, and wondering just how much worse it will get.

There's this odd recreation called fantasy football. As I understand it, you get to put together an imaginary team of real players and let it compete against other imaginary teams. I think we need to have all of these political aspirants who don't want to engage with reality and let them play fantasy politics. They can all be the fantasy president of their fantasy countries, and make all the fantasy decisions they like--and leave reality to those who care deal with it. Feh.


*Yes, I know there's one exception, but few people give him any chance at success.