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In article <299CE232.3598@ics.uci.edu> mludwig@ics.uci.edu
(Michael Scott Ludwig) writes:
>I get your point that less people would believe it, but I don't think it
>would be any less true.

The problem is that we get numbed by it.  It's not the media's fault directly.
We sort of mimic the action potential of neurons: first an initial sharp
reaction, followed by a decreased, but constant awareness.  If we are
always in a reactive panic mode we develop the term "crisis management."

>=The key must be the development of an awareness that we have problems which
>=are not easily detectable (sensible).  That the world interconnected by
>=more than computer networks.  You can see litter, and I even know an
>=environmental slant which would encourage you to litter (Abbey).
>
>Hmmm?  Why do they encourage litter?  (The only reason I can think of is
>that they would claim that lots of trash in a small area is too harmful to
>that area.)

Edward Abbey (who would not have claimed to be an environmentalist,
but had a large following) would probably tell you that the paved road which
brought the travellers was a greater travesity than the cans and bottles.
It's a matter of priorities.  The classic rejoinder is "well, two wrongs
don't make a right."  Abbey had a point, but that doesn't mean we all
have to drop litter.

>Also, since people sometimes disagree on which specific things fall in a
>certain category, how widely is it accepted that they are an environmental
>group?

Eh?  Very much so.  Abbey wrote The Monkey Wrench Gang which became
one of the inspirations to Earth First! (the ! is essential).

The problem is that the real environmental problems are unseen and act on
time and space scales beyond human perception.  Colorless, odorless, clear
gasses, things hidden beneath the sea don't excite the afforementioned neurons.
That's why we need scientific instruments, and other tools to monitor,
watch and understand the problems.  Which is part of why I personally think
Monkey Wrenching is ineffective.

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov
  Resident Cynic, Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers
  {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene