tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post8156607763189167014..comments2023-10-26T22:06:11.166+11:00Comments on Metamagician3000: A little respect - on Jean Kazez, trees, and the constraints on our actionsRussell Blackfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-12858304270124761322012-06-20T16:47:36.638+10:002012-06-20T16:47:36.638+10:00By the time I was able to visit the site of the ol...By the time I was able to visit the site of the oldest tree in the south-west of Tasmania, it had already been cut down by vandals. To me this was tantamount to spiritual desecration, as this tree had lived and breathed for a couple of thousand years. (Don't get pedantic: trees breathe, just not like humans.) <br /><br />If everyone trod lightly on this earth, we could reduce the problems the world is facing today: famine, pollution, scarcity of resources, disposal of technology with mercury and other poisonous elements... <br /><br />If adults treated one another with respect, we'd get a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, customer service would be a positive experience for both sides and no-one would be bitching about Telstra, Optus, mining companies, corruption...<br /><br />Children are the future, not of us as individuals but of us as a species. If everyone came together as a village to raise a child, children and parents wouldn't be as stressed, families wouldn't be in decline, child protection units wouldn't be facing insurmountable problems with staff running the ragged edge of burnout...<br /><br />I know this is all in an ideal world. I'm not blind to vandals, selfishness, profiteering, abuse, paedophilia and all those other problems. I'm just saying that respect could bring about general improvement.Nalini Hayneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11258073393239527942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-59482382199276401442012-06-19T18:31:55.376+10:002012-06-19T18:31:55.376+10:00Respect has to be placed into a context, as you su...Respect has to be placed into a context, as you suggested. I see stickers on cars from time to time that show Albert Einstein's face and various comments that he made on politics and war. Now I respect Einstein on the subject of physics, since right or wrong, the man was brilliant in that field. Whatever he says on that subject deserves a second look. But in political and ethical matters, is he any more qualified than any other human being?<br /><br />Regarding the redwoods, can a person do anything but stare in awe? (An industrial logger might, but industrial is often a poor quality in any subject.) The trees are doing what their genes make them do, but that doesn't take away from the achievement. In that line, I respect an athlete who can push the boundaries of what the human body can do (without drugs or similar), but I don't buy products just because that same athlete endorses them.<br /><br />We owe human beings in general the level of respect shown at traffic lights--I'll stop for you if you'll later stop for me. To earn more requires doing more. As I tell my students, I'll respect them once they've shown me a willingness to learn.Greg Camphttp://englreadingandwriting.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com