Remember when we we’re kids and if we didn’t know something,
or wanted to know more about something we just asked our Mom or Dad, or Grams
or Gramps, or even a teacher, and then what ever their answer was we blindly
assumed was right? We would repeat it, and parrot it, we would argue it and
defend it, and eventually the belief just became part of us.
Man those were good times.
Now we all have monumental amounts of information at our
fingertips, with our smart phones at the ready we all know the capital of
anywhere, the correct spelling of anything, the correct answer to any math
problem we can type into our phones or computers, the highpoints and brief
summary, of any event in human history, the secrets of space travel, the exact
distance from where we are to anywhere else, the temperature of anywhere right
now, and at any time it’s ever been recorded. News from anywhere, in any language,
and the ability to communicate with anyone at any time, (unless they send me to
voicemail or decline the call) I know the recipe to anything from, perfect lamb
chops, to a slippery nipple, I can also order the ingredients or just have it
shipped to me. I have more memory and computing power in my DROID RAZR than was
used to send astronauts to the moon. This smart phone information rubs off too.
I understand the basics of gravity, and worm holes. I’ve seen more people
having sex via porn and the internet than probably any 10,000 men 50 years ago.
Sodom and Gomorra aint got shit on me. The human body holds no mysteries to me.
I’m interested in what is where, so I have a basic understanding of biology and
anatomy. I’m not an expert at any of these things but I know, and have access,
to more information on anything, then anyone in History ever has.
But guess what?
When it comes to some things, I just don’t have a fricking
clue, and furthermore I don’t think anyone else does either.
All of this information, all of this knowledge, and I just
wish I could ask my old man what he thinks and blindly accept it as truth.
Last night I decided to read a little about fracking. (hydraulic
fracturing of stone thousands and thousands of feet beneath the earth to
extract natural gas)
One thing led to another, I read article after article,
watched video after video. I read economic studies, social studies, and
environmental studies. I read propaganda from gas companies, and environmental
organizations. I know people who work in this industry. I saw people with
flammable drinking water. I read how it was methanol, and how it wasn’t
methanol. I read how natural gas will lead to energy independence and a
stronger, richer, America. I read how it will poison the drinking water of the
biggest most important aquifers in the US, and how water may become more
valuable than gold. I read and read, and studied and studied, and guess what?
Well I just wish I could ask my Dad and be young and
impressionable enough to just blindly accept and believe whatever he said.
So then I just walked away from the screen and smoked some
cigarettes, and admitted to myself that I still had no clue.
So then I started reading about these new Salmon that are a
cunt-hair away from being approved by the FDA. I guess they are exactly like
regular Salmon except they have been genetically modified and mixed and matched
to grow bigger in ½ the time.
The way I undertsnad it this is done with gene splicing, which
sounds a little scary, until you imagine that basically it’s what we have been
doing with selective breeding, since we domesticated, chickens, and nature
herself domesticated the gray wolf into the domestic dog. (that’s right every
single domestic dog is a descendant of the gray wolf), (go ahead google it, I
dare you).
Again I read and read, I studied and considered, and I still
can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not.
I guess the point of this evenings, (well now this mornings)
blog is this. Information is great but
it just isn’t enough, and at some point, it’s like trying to study a snowflake
in a blizzard, or a raindrop in a downpour.
Nothing compares to the magic and certainty of a child
asking a parent or grandparent or step parent, or whatever, a question, and
receiving an answer.
When we as parents, answer a question for a child, we are
shaping the future, we are building a destiny, we are creating a bias that
surpasses all this information, all of this science, and all of this wisdom.
You would think that me being able to learn all I learned
about fracking from my office in my condo in Southern California, is magic but
it’s not. Me being able to be 10 again and looking at my Father and asking him,
“Dad is fracking good or bad?” and him answering me while patting my head or
looking me in the eye, now that would be magic.
I don’t know the answers, and the more I learn the more
questions I have, but I have figured this out; it all comes down to what you
believe, and our children believe what we tell them. So it probably wouldn’t
hurt if we reminded ourselves of this the next time the little one asks us
something.
Jan 6th 2013
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