More from MC

Since finishing State of Fear, I've spent a good amount of time reading through the materials at Michael Crichton's website. I first spent some time on the message boards, and despite these being heavily moderated, like all public internet forums they devolve into digital poo-flinging. So, I moved over to the speeches section of the site and found several interesting reads.

This particular speech isn't so much a speech, as it is MC's testimony to a Senate committee last year regarding the importance of independent scientific research. He basically states that environmental research simply does not live up to the standard that many other research paradigms demand, such as double-blind research for the FDA. He basically states that science is simply an inquiry and that the results of it must be independently verified and replicated before being taken seriously, much less influence policy decisions.

I've read many of the others, and most of the recent ones deal with global warming and its related topics. As I stated last post, reading this book has forced me to rethink my views concerning global warming and my approach to the mass of information we all encounter everyday. Hell, just the other day I found myself questioning something I heard on NPR, not by a reporter, but by someone who was being interviewed. At any rate, I feel it is incumbent on any responsible person to always allow for the possibility that new data might influence your stance on a particular issue and not allow ideaology or belief stand in the way.