Learning to Walk, December 2

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

It takes a while to get adjusted to life on a ship.  The Seaventure is the first ship that I have been on for longer than six hours (whale watching).  I’m finding life on a ship means a change in routines.

The first change in routine is that I’ve had to devote considerably more cognitive energy to the simple act of walking. The Southern Sea is likely not the best place to learn how to walk on water although the first two days of this trip across the notoriously roiled Drake’s Passage were really quite gentle. 

Then there are days like today as we sail in a southwesterly direction toward our eclipse viewing area near the South Orkney Islands, where I am learning to walk all over again.  On land, you can be reasonably sure that when you drop your foot downward that you will encounter a solid surface that is parallel with your other foot on said solid surface.

On a ship, that is sometimes not the case.  In the case of today it is mostly not the case.  This morning we encountered three- meter (10 foot) swells over at least a couple of hours.  Who said that gravity is a law?  When a foot comes down in the form of a step on a ship, it may or may not come down in the manner expected. Sometimes the solid ground that was underneath it when the foot lifted off the ground is simply not there anymore.

When this happens, the result can be comedic and possibly a bit painful.  When the previously mentioned lifted foot comes back down to what used to be solid ground and finds that all that remains there is air, the center of gravity shifts to a point where the person attached to the foot can no longer remain standing. 

This can be magnified significantly if one is walking down a flight of stairs or leaving the Conference room on Deck 7 at the front of the Seaventure.  Gravity seems to no longer function in the way that Sir Issac Newton theorized that it should and would behave.  The end consequence is also magnified significantly.

So, as Captain Tino says, “One hand is for you and the other hand is for the ship.”  A good lesson for this “land lubber.”

Update:  The swells have gone down for now.  The cloud above has settled down to the surface of the water and the visibility has dropped to around 30 feet.  Andy says that I should post a photo, so I’ll give it a shot.