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The long nature-or-nurture-styled debate over whether thought influences language or vice versa appears to be tipping in favor of language's impact on how we think. Beginning with Noam Chomsky, it's been assumed that our brains operate at a level above language, and that language is simply the conduit through we express what we're thinking. Now there's good evidence that language is part of the medium in which thoughts flit through and are stored within our brains. Depending on how your language is constructed, you may have very different understandings of the world around you and even of your own experiences.
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I have to give Chevrolet credit for shipping the Volt. I didn't think it would happen, and I said as much a few years ago. I figured it was just a lot of talk to keep their stock up.
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Babies are dying of whooping cough in California, while parents treat them with herbs and homeopathic elf poop. All because the parents won't get their kids immunized. One parent says that she thought that her toddler was going to die, that him having whooping cough was the worst experience that she's ever had…but still won't vaccinate her kids. And this is in Marin County, one of the most affluent counties in California. We're moving towards a future where terrible preventable illnesses are diseases of affluence—and ignorance.
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Dude, I’m all about the herbal remedies, but these people need to vaccinate their damn kids. It affects the rest of us.
What is the foundation for this fear of “chemicals”? Isn’t EVERYTHING a chemical compound? The air we breathe, water, etc.? Everything in the world is built out of pieces of the periodic table of the elements, isn’t it? What do these people mean when they say they don’t want to put “chemicals” on or into their child? Are they not aware that the homeopathic cough drop is just as “chemical” as the chicken-pox vaccine?
FWIW, Tim, I also think that herbal remedies absolutely have their place. There are a lot of naturally occurring medicinal treatments (marijuana being the obvious example) that are well worth pursuing. But there’s a point where giving a kid herbs is basically the same as praying over him and hoping that God will heal the gaping wound in his skull. We have better medical solutions to such problems.
Remember, Cecil, chemicals are things people make. If it occurs in nature, it’s healthy. (Uranium need not apply. :)
The only good option for the Volt is a lease. You don’t want to have to replace the batteries in a couple of years or be stuck with a car that could crater in value if the technology doesn’t work out. Plus the technology will be more proven in 3 years.
The lease numbers I saw look quite affordable as well. The 3 year 36 month lease payment will be $350 per month with $2500 down payment.
I was nearly certain that the Volt would always be vaporware used to help slow the sales of competitor’s hybrids…
Wow, they really will have one for sale soon? Amazing…
at that price it will not have much impact on the market though (perhaps through affordable leasing it might)
It has an 8 year/100k battery warranty. If you’re an urbanite it buys you a ticket to ride the HOV. If your commute is less than 40 miles it takes volatile gasoline pricing out of the picture. And between the $7,500 tax credit and much reduced gas tax expenditures, all those gas guzzlers get to subsidize your good sense, and mother-earth loving style!
On the vaccine issue, I think the parents should be held criminally liable. I would think now these folks could be open to civil liability.
Cecil: There’s a certain correlation between the infrequency with which compounds are found in our natural environment, and the toxicity of those compounds. Synthetic compounds tickle our chemistry in new and exciting ways, sometimes leading to Cancer Surprise. That’s roughly where the fear comes from.
I can’t imagine then how anti-vaccine folks live in regular houses or communities if they fear synthetic chemicals. Synthetic chemicals are all around these people. How are they not paralyzed with fear?
Also, where is the study that points to toxicity being any different in synthetic chemicals than chemicals that are naturally occurring? That would not appear to make a lot of sense.
Viruses help to cause certain cancers. If their fear is cancer, you’d think they would want immunizations from HPV and Hepatitis B.
http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/August-2010/Using-Fear-Prejudice-to-Attack-Vaccine-Exemption.aspx
Not about vaccines, but a good article:
http://www.naturalnews.com/029350_doctors_patients.html