Stray Not - or we won't make it in time
HOPE YOU ARE WELL: Let's keep it that way
In all of our daily lives, we are confronted with stories and promotions that more or less knowingly directs our actions, behaviors and opinions.
But the world is getting more and more complex, and if we are to distinguish between facts and fiction, between communication and manipulation, it is important to have some knowledge and understanding of the factors and mechanisms that is the solid foundation for truth.
Whether the topic is about the Environment, your Health, Politics or specific initiatives and events, the articles on this site is written with the purpose of helping you navigate better between BS and trustworthy information.
The mission of straynot.com is to help you with this, by explaining the relevant basic learningpoints from various science disciplines, and show the relevance of this when it comes to your future health and the well-being of the planet you are living on. This is an ambitious endeavor, and of course we will only be able to focus on the most relevant topics. And as part of that, we need to refrain some of the insight that has been given to us, by thousands of years of scientific practices.
We are at all times presented with inflated promises and unrealistic targets, combined with fake advertisements and deliberate misinformation from various sources that speculate in own succes and benefits. This will, if not obstructed and mitigated, destroy all the premises that democracy thrives from. And the result will be elected politicians, not delivering on their promises - because their election speeches were never founded on facts and real options.
A 4 year election cycles in context of todays high pace, fluctuating global economy can in effect be the period of make it or brake it. Blindfolded, naive trust in the system can result in lost opportunities, recession, increased division and inequality, so you gotta make each vote count. By conveying facts and insights, we allow everyone, including voters, to make responsible choices when they decide who to trust and who to select for office.
There is no way around that, other than this: You need to have a certain level of knowledge about the fundamental facts of life. This doesn’t mean that you need to be an expert in any way, but you need to get to a level where you can spot good from bad, facts from fiction and truth from lies.
A good place to start, is learning about the fundamental mechanisms of nature and the environment, mechanisms of economics and global treaties and mechanisms related to health and consumption.
Some of the articles covers profound and complex areas, the take years of study and practice to fully appreciate. But the topics and the punchlines presented, have been carefully selected due to their relevance, and are presented here in a way that should be easy to read and understand for everyone.
Please dive in - and let it direct you towards a better future.
Articles
The future is in your hands, whether you like it or not. Having power is great, right? The only problem is, that currently, it all seems to be moving in the wrong direction, and it is extremely urgent to turn the Titanic around and change course, for it to end well. You can decide not to care. You can choose not to take action.
Actually, regardless of whether you turn you back to the facts, or fiercely attack it head on, I would like you to understand that action is needed, and that you can make a difference. If you are in doubt about what is rigth and wrong, start by seeking more insight into the various important scientific topics. And when you are ready, then use this insight to make sure that you choose wisely, when you put the destiny of our Earth in the hands on the leaders of tomorrow.
Where do you want to go from here?
You can't see the forest for the trees, can you? If there was ever a contradictory phrase, when it comes to sustainability and ecology, this would most certainly be it. In fact, the smallest actors plays the major parts, when the future of our planet unfolds.
The Earth’s ecosystem is like a swiss clockwork made up of millions of different, particular and specialized parts. If you remove one of the parts, the mechanism will stop functioning as expected. No-one is more important than the others. We thrive together or we doom together.
The established interdependencies and symbiosis between the various players, are so intricate and obscure that we tend to ignore the importance of it. Food chains, cycles, balances, ocean acidity, atmospheric composition, natural habitats and biotas, flora and fauna biodiversity, seasons, precipitation, humidity and temperature variations. It is impossible to keep track of it all, but one this is certain. All of these elements are important and indispensable ingredients in the swiss clockwork that we call the Earth’s ecosystem.
Humans are here thanks to, and at the mercy of, the many different bacteria, fungus, insects, animals, chorals, plants etc. etc.
If they disappear, we will be gone too.
Mother nature had it all lined perfectly up for us. Fertile soils with the right balance of compounds. Plenty of sea life in clean waters. Various types of strong crops naturally resistent to draught and diseases.
But we just couldn't help start playing God and acting as if we knew better what is good for us. The quest for more, faster, cheaper, stronger, tastier, more colorfull etc. initiated the creation of seeds, compounds, materials and chemicals that eventually ended up as pollution and un-natural substances in our environment, food and bodies.
We have reached a situation where food production methods are depleting and polluting the fields and water systems. And on top of that - as a consequence of the optimized yield cycles - the food that is produced, is lacking the vitamins, complex compounds and building blocks that is fundamental and essential to the growth, maintenance and health of the human body. Instead we are consuming “energy-packets” that are joggling with our bloodsucker, blood pressure and hormones, just to mention the most obvious medical consequences.
Choose non-processed food before processed food. Choose ecological products before industrial products.
Make a natural choice.
Don't let the fools fool you. You will be better off, paying attention to what the scientists are trying to tell you. The explanations, the predictions, the suggestions for appropriate mitigations and initiatives - it's all there, if you bother listen to it.
Homo sapiens - the only insightful, wise and understanding being on Earth. Capable of doing the most incredible things. Capable of doing both good and harm. For more than 2000 years, man has desired to understand everything about the heavens and the earth. Introducing scientific methods, and striving to theorize, investigate and learn. Part of the scientific method is also to publish results, and to share knowledge and insight, with the purpose of allowing all scientists around the world to challenge and eventually confirm that the scientific theory is correct. And that the reports are correct. The scientific method and the scientific community is one of the finest achievements that man has fostered. The consequences of this permeates all areas of our lives, and all layers of society. Governments, Companies and Citizens alike, benefit from this.
For some reason, the majority of people around the world has lost their mind. It seems as if they think that science is not relevant any more, or as if science cannot be trusted anymore. And therefore do not trust scientific reports.
And if you are one of those people that don't, or if you don't care, and decide that you will rather believe your priest, your politicians or your president than the scientist, then at least understand this;
you have been warned!
We need to build a bridge to the future. There is a gap between the current trajectory of the Earth, and what will in reality be sustainable in the long run.
The gap is all about what should be the required symbiosis between the Earth and its inhabitants. A coexistence that needs to be based on mutual respect and care. How are we doing on that account? What is the damage, when a generation has come and gone. What footprints were left behind, for future generations to cope with. Considering all other things equal, the consumption of ressources is escalating almost exponentially. If all waste was recycled and all energy came from renewable energy sources, of course there would be less to be concerned about. But it’s not, by far. And on top of that, the human population is growing. And more people means more houses, more home appliances, more cars, more production, more transport and more food consumption. Basically, a lot of the footprints from human activity will not be recycled - neither in the duration of a generation or a human lifetime.
Where this trajectory will take us, 20 years from now, no-one knows. But we can learn from history. And we can consult the scientists that are doing research related to this. And then we can - and must - reverse engineer the predictions into initiatives.
We need to change mindset, preferences and attitudes. And more importantly, we need to change gears, and start moving faster, in the right direction. Housing, transportation, energy production, trading, food production, lifestyle - it all has to change, for the better.
No more talk, please. Politicians should stop the endless debating, and tactical maneuvers. If the agenda was about how to gain the most from liberalism, protectionism and nationalism - which basically means every man for himself - then by all means, carry on with business as usual, and let’s just wait and see which countries will come out on top, and what impact it will have in general, on the stock markets and the global growth. Basically, that game is merely about goods and money changing hands, and regardless of whether you win some and you loose some, at the end of the day, life will go on.
But there is another challenge that is much more important to focus on right now. And this challenge is also global in nature. But unfortunately this one is not a game, and we are all either winners or losers. We are not competing with each other. And countries are not competing against other countries. This one is about the people of the world racing against time and trends that - if not defeated - will lead to a future of global chaos, poverty and difficult living conditions.
The future is too important a topic, to leave to the politicians and the large corporations to control. Instead we need to let the scientists and the engineers determine the objectives and the means, to fight the negative trends. And the politicians should focus on providing funding for whatever research and development is needed, The money is there, in the pockets of countries, corporations and the 1% wealthiest people. We just need them to step up, and start working. The challenges facing us, has to be solved on a global level, through global agreements, and with initiatives that has a global scope. This is a fight for all. And everyone has to participate and contribute, with what they’ve got.
Let knowledge be your guide
The pen is mightier that the sword. And since the introduction of the internet and SoMe platforms, this has become even more true. Election meddling, fake news and control of peoples ability to make fair judgement, by manipulation of mine and your’s feelings and beliefs, through selective advertising and posting of twisted or even untrue stories about things that are important to us.
Information overload. Biased opinions. Manipulated videos. The amount of misinformation has exceeded the amount of real, neutral, unbiased and fair facts. In reality, the facts are drowning in the sea of ever increasing volumes of garbage.
There is only one available option for you, if you want to fight this information battle. You need to start being extremely careful and critical about which information sources you get your knowledge from, and which people and papers you allow to have influence on your thoughts and your actions.
But dependent on your level of education and profession, you might also need to put some effort into getting to know the basics about a handfull of science areas. If you are to distinguish between good and bad health advices, you need to have basic knowledge about chemistry and medicine. If you are to vote for sensible political initiatives, when it comes to the environment and the global climate, you need to have basic knowledge about physics, biology and ecology.
Straynot wants to help you with this, by teaching you what you need to know, in an easy understandable language, without the elaborated history, the name dropping and fancy formulas. After all, we are not trying to make you a scientist. We are merely aiming at filling your survival kit with insight that will help you recognize scientific recommendations, and filter away all the BS.
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