Ways of Not Seeing

A somewhat mixed seminar on global climate change, showing the sharpest and fuzziest thinking on the subject. The former got me thinking about the latter. There seems to be a broad typology of bad thinking about problems:

1) There is no problem.
1a) The problem is a myth, or only believed by cranks and enemies.
- It could never happen.
- The evidence is flawed.
- It's all tree-hugging nonsense.
- The Nazi's were environmentalists, you know.

1b) The real problem is something else.
- It's not corporations, it's greedy car drivers.
- It's not economics, it's lack of spirituality.

1c) There is a problem, but don't worry because the solution is in hand.
- All we need to do to combat climate change is use non-bio washing powder. Or put up car tax.
- The free market will develop new technology to cope, so we just need to keep doing what we're doing already.
- Our company is researching wind turbines.
- Climate change is gradual, so we'll have time to adapt.

2) There is no solution.
2a) There's nothing we can do.
- The corporations will never switch to ecological methods, because it's too expensive.
- There's not enough time to build a world movement.
- Pollution is a result of industrial capitalism, which is the result of human nature.
- If we solve Global Warming, we get Global Dimming, which is even worse.
- Global Warming is natural and therefore unstoppable, not manmade and therefore controllable.

2b) It turns out there was something we could have done, but it's too late now.
- The process has gone too far to be reversible.

Anyway, I've got it on tape, so can dissect it further later.
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I think I have a cold. I don't especially need to be snuffling with a muzzy head tomorrow, adding new items to Simon M's ebay business and and summarising the SWP conference at a meeting in the evening.

Gareth E wants advice in running a website - starting with web page design. My advice - to hand code where possible and keep the layout simple - will be diametrically opposed to most of the advice he recieves.
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