The Chronology of Ideas

"9/11 provides sober evidence that the young may enact the pathologies of the old." - Denyse O'Leary

Something to keep in mind when reading this story...

In 2006, the Texas Academy of Sciences gave its Distinguished Scientist award to Dr. Eric Pianca. Biology senior Brenna McConnell blogged about Dr. Bianka's acceptance speech...

Dr. Pianka's talk at the TAS meeting was mostly of the problems humans are causing as we rapidly proliferate around the globe. While what he had to say is way too vast to remember it all, moreover to relay it here in this blog, the bulk of his talk was that he's waiting for the virus that will eventually arise and kill off 90% of human population. In fact, his hope, if you can call it that, is that the ebola virus which attacks humans currently (but only through blood transmission) will mutate with the ebola virus that attacks monkeys airborne to create an airborne ebola virus that attacks humans. He's a radical thinker, that one! I mean, he's basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population! And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he's right.

Forrest Mims, a science journalist, was stunned...

I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth's population by airborne ebola.

I wish I could say I'm "amazed," but I'm not. Dr. Pianca's speech (and the positive reaction by his audience) is just the latest evidence that modern science is consumed with thanatos. So far, we've managed to escape the consequences of their "thanatos," but how much longer? Will one day a student of Dr. Bianka go beyond Brenna McConnell's conclusion ("I think he's right") and actually decide to take action?

On September 10, 2001, a political expert could've reasonably claimed that the ideas of Islamic fundamentalism (which had been circulating for around 50 years) had no impact on the lives of ordinary Americans (and probably never would). By the next day, that naive assumption was gone forever.

So, with that in mind, the question remains: Can we stop materialist science propaganda before the consequences of that propaganda explode in our face?

Perhaps not. Perhaps it will take a real explosion before we learn our lesson.

-Todd