Michael Crichton & DDT

There has been a focus on Michael Crichton and what he doesn’t know about climate, see this post and thread.

What does he know about environmentalism? I remember his speech in San Francisco a couple of years ago, it began:

“I have been asked to talk about what I consider the most important challenge facing mankind, and I have a fundamental answer. The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.

We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we’re told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems. Every one of us has a sense of the world, and we all know that this sense is in part given to us by what other people and society tell us; in part generated by our emotional state, which we project outward; and in part by our genuine perceptions of reality. In short, our struggle to determine what is true is the struggle to decide which of our perceptions are genuine, and which are false because they are handed down, or sold to us, or generated by our own hopes and fears.

As an example of this challenge, I want to talk today about environmentalism. And in order not to be misunderstood, I want it perfectly clear that I believe it is incumbent on us to conduct our lives in a way that takes into account all the consequences of our actions, including the consequences to other people, and the consequences to the environment. I believe it is important to act in ways that are sympathetic to the environment, and I believe this will always be a need, carrying into the future. I believe the world has genuine problems and I believe it can and should be improved. But I also think that deciding what constitutes responsible action is immensely difficult, and the consequences of our actions are often difficult to know in advance.

Keeping reading Download file.

I don’t agree with everything Crichton has written/said here. But it is worth a read. It provides an insight. He is an optimist. He cares about the truth, about people, and he has an interest in DDT.

When I lived in SW Madagascar in the late 1980s DDT was a big issue as was cerebral malaria. People had their huts sprayed with DDT in the hope that it would save them from malaria.

I was sent this link, which gives an insight into DDT and its potential to save lives in 2005. The article is titled ‘Fighting malaria with DDT in South Africa’and is from BBC News.