Friday 29 October 2010

Us and Nature

This morning I've been thinking about volcanos. Probably because my husband mentioned earthquakes and tsunamis to me - and another friend has mentioned an earthquake in Alaska.

The reaction to the planes being grounded over Europe has always tickled me. Yup, you got that right. I'm very amused by it. See. A plane flying  in the area of Indonesia sees St. Elmo's Fire, engines cut out ... the plane seems to be crashing ... thankfully the engines restart when the plane drops low ... but when they finally land, they fine that the plane has effectively been, for want of a better word, sandblasted. Fine. So the cause of all that is a volcanic cloud. No problem. We just direct planes AROUND volcanic cloud in future.

But ...  NOT IN MY BACK YARD! Yup - you got that in one ... NIMBY! That's what some people who live in first world countries are ... nimbys. When such an incident crosses over into (arguably) first world countries, that's what the people living there become.

Get a grip on it ... there are several things bigger than us humans, and nature just happens to be one of them. Personally, I'll never attempt to step into an aircraft if there's a volcanic cloud anywhere nearby ... however much it costs me ... and too, I hope we never get big and ugly enough that we learn how to control nature. It's one of the few things that keeps us humble.

(most of this in reaction to people questioning why the planes were grounded in the first place)

3 comments:

  1. I agree that we need to stop acting like two-year-olds -- and stop thinking we're the center of the universe.

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  2. I'm so glad I'm not the only one that thinks like this!

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  3. Nice Post!!! I haven't been on in awhile, sorry. Anyway, I totally agree! We need to stop trying to control the universe and all that goes around us! Thank heavens some smart butt found out that we are not the center of the universe, imagine our ego! Woah! Haha, anway I need to visit your blog more, always interesting topics! Please check out my blog sometime too, thanks! :)

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