Time, Exploration and Other Things

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

My internal clock is all screwed up.  First it was the three hours lost to travelling from the west coast of the U.S. to the east coast of the U.S.  Then there was the loss of another two hours between Ushuaia and South Georgia Island, then, I think, we gained one back somewhere along the course of changing longitude.

However many hours have passed since I left San Francisco, my internal clock, my Circadian rhythms, are all discombobulated.  I have stayed up until 0200 and awakened at 0400.  On Eclipse day, December 4,  I was awake for 20 hours.  What the hell time is it anyway?  I have only a fleeting clue.  My body seems to know when it needs sleep, when it needs food, when it needs a shower.  I listen to it and act accordingly.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but travel does make a reason for adjusting one’s routine.  We’ve been abord the Seaventure since November 23 if I remember correctly.  Saturday became Sunday during the pair of flights from San Francisco to Miami and Miami to Buenos Aires and nothing in my perception of time has been the same since.

I can’t believe that we biological creatures who have been granted the ability to alter our physical environment were meant to stay put and not leave the place and time zone that we were born in, but you have to admit that there is something about changing your location on the globe that is downright unnatural.  The Sun rises and sets in 24 different human created “time zones” and it makes total sense astronomically that as the Earth rotates on it’s axis at a tilt of 23.5 degrees to the Ecliptic that the typical 24 hour daily cycle of the Earth’s rotation results in a staggering of lighted time and darkened time.

Try telling that to my body in it’s never-ending quest to adjust to global travel in a matter of hours.  I guess that ultimately it is a small price to pay for understanding other cultures, for scratching the itch to explore and experience new things and for expanding the limitless possibilities in life.  Maybe by the time I wake up and go substitute teach on Tuesday, December 14 at 0800 PST at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara, California, my body will have figured out what my brain is unable to figure out.

But try telling that to my body as it continues its quest to eat, sleep and explore!  I didn’t get to food and other things this time around.  Oh well.  Maybe next time. (If I’ve already sent this photo, forgive me. I’ve lost all concept of time or space. I’ll make it up to you later.)

Cheers,

Bruce