Spocko's Brain

I just watched Lost in Space season 2. My take away is in the future smart, competent women still scare people. Huh. I guess the good news is we have come far enough that they exist and are part of the world, but they make people uncomfortable. To be okay with her successes people needed to take her down a few pegs.

A smart woman solves the problem again! Now let’s focus on what’s wrong with her!

In this season multiple characters, both men and women, point out that Maureen Robinson is “calculating” and “focused” and not a perfect person, especially toward her children.

The show does attempt to show that there are other intelligences other than scientific intelligence. Why? To make people feel good about their own skills? To show that you need a variety of skills to survive? I like the problem solving nature of the show. Someone described each episode as “an escape room they have to get out of in under an hour” but what I found interesting was how much push back and resentment certain characters had toward the mother and her science-based solutions. Would they had the same attitude toward . . . → Read More: Lost In Space, Season 2 review. In the future smart women still scare men

Mrs. Spocko lost her wallet today. We retraced her steps. On the way to the farmers market where she thought she lost it there was a rainbow. I said, “The end of the rainbow is right where it will be!” And it was!

A woman at the organic produce stall she was shopping at found it and turned it into the market’s information booth. All the contents were untouched. A Christmas miracle!

We went back to thank the woman at the stall who turned it in. She was happy too. We bought an extra large cauliflower from her.

On the way back we stopped at the bar by the farmers market where we had asked if someone had turned it in. We told the bartender we found the wallet and she said, “It restores your faith in humanity.”

I thought, “What does that comment actually mean?” If someone says that a certain action “restores their faith in humanity” it means they are holding onto an idea that humans are terrible and bad acts are normal. The returning of the wallet restored the idea that humans are good and good acts are the norm. I understand the benefits to thinking . . . → Read More: The Christmas Cauliflower Miracle

For decades powerful forces have willfully exploited people’s misunderstanding of science and their feelings of being belittled by others.

The right wing media radio and TV hosts tap into listeners’ feeling of inadequacy and turns that into a weapon to use to attack scientists, liberals and anyone who represents them.

“Those smarty pants liberals think they are smarter than you! They aren’t! They aren’t perfect! Look at how they were wrong in the past about the climate! Why listen to them now?”

Greta represents all the people who laughed at them. She is also young and female.

“How dare a 16-year-old girl tell you what to do? Who does she think she is?”

Encouraging people to be aggrieved is a powerful part of right wing media appeal. Digby, Atrios and Sam Seder have pointed this out for years. They also push the underlying theme that liberal elites have been laughing at conservative listeners. Now that they are in power it’s time to rub that laughter into their smug liberal faces.

People ask me. “Why do people deny human caused climate change?” One answer I give is obvious.

Their job/income depends on disputing the science.

Some ask, “Why do . . . → Read More: How The Right Uses The Joy Of Hate To Stop Action On Climate Change