I am a bit farther in this debate recording. This did not "age" well at all. On almost every issue, Thorpe and even the UNC moderator look like fools. They rushed to judgement to push a mainstream narrative, which was completely false.
So Maroja looks incredibly smart and prescient in retrospect. She was completely correct, and these two old white males look like idiots.
I am 40 minutes into the debate. Thorp's comments did not age particularly well. His comments about the "lab leak theory" and similar topics, where Thorp is just regurgitating left wing talking points makes me cringe. Wow. I have always had issues with stuff Thorp writes, but Thorp's comments in this video are appalling.
I had meant to read this essay earlier, but I only did so today.
I have subscribed to Holden Thorp's feed for a year or two now. I sometimes read his essays on Substack. Invariably, as a person of color in STEM, I find them highly offensive. There is an awful lot of "white saviorism" in his attitude. He might think he is being tolerant and compassionate, but in reality, it is basically stridently racist and rude. I am kind of disgusted with Thorp being some sort of ambassador for science.
I agree with the author that perhaps Thorp is doing more damage than good with his spouting of nonsensical, unscientifically-based views.
Maybe I will endeavor to listen to the actual debate.
Thank you for taking the time to summarize the discussion and linking to it.
(Disclosure: Holden and I were friends at UNC-CH as undergraduates. Chris and I are both astronomers and have overlapped a little bit professionally. I don't know (yet) Luana but gather that she and I would get along well, too.)
Holden alluded to an interaction he and Chris had at UNC-CH with an outside speaker. I Googled a bit and found the unpleasant story of the 2009 visit to UNC-CH of former U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo, which may have been what Holden was referring to. I wasn't there. I didn't pay attention contemporaneously either. I don't know much about the following references, but I read/watched them to understand a little about what had happened. What a royal mess, with bad behavior all around, apparently.
Incidentally, in her essay, Luana says she agrees with Holden about the potential of nuclear power to help provide a plausible environmental solution to climate change. I might agree in a hypothetical world without human conflicts, but as we are seeing right now in Eastern Europe in 2022, human conflict makes nuclear power less desirable from my viewpoint. Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are related; I don't see how they can be kept separate. I feel that this is a very complex assessment, and in part it is shrouded in the difficulty that those who are competent enough about nuclear weapons may be forbidden to express their knowledge.
I am a fan of one type of nuclear power: that fusion reactor 93 million miles away that has been reliably and safely operating for billions of years and delivers power wirelessly to humans. Without it, it'd be a very very cold world indeed, entirely uninhabitable.
I am a bit farther in this debate recording. This did not "age" well at all. On almost every issue, Thorpe and even the UNC moderator look like fools. They rushed to judgement to push a mainstream narrative, which was completely false.
So Maroja looks incredibly smart and prescient in retrospect. She was completely correct, and these two old white males look like idiots.
Amazing, really.
I am 40 minutes into the debate. Thorp's comments did not age particularly well. His comments about the "lab leak theory" and similar topics, where Thorp is just regurgitating left wing talking points makes me cringe. Wow. I have always had issues with stuff Thorp writes, but Thorp's comments in this video are appalling.
I had meant to read this essay earlier, but I only did so today.
I have subscribed to Holden Thorp's feed for a year or two now. I sometimes read his essays on Substack. Invariably, as a person of color in STEM, I find them highly offensive. There is an awful lot of "white saviorism" in his attitude. He might think he is being tolerant and compassionate, but in reality, it is basically stridently racist and rude. I am kind of disgusted with Thorp being some sort of ambassador for science.
I agree with the author that perhaps Thorp is doing more damage than good with his spouting of nonsensical, unscientifically-based views.
Maybe I will endeavor to listen to the actual debate.
Thank you for taking the time to summarize the discussion and linking to it.
(Disclosure: Holden and I were friends at UNC-CH as undergraduates. Chris and I are both astronomers and have overlapped a little bit professionally. I don't know (yet) Luana but gather that she and I would get along well, too.)
Holden alluded to an interaction he and Chris had at UNC-CH with an outside speaker. I Googled a bit and found the unpleasant story of the 2009 visit to UNC-CH of former U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo, which may have been what Holden was referring to. I wasn't there. I didn't pay attention contemporaneously either. I don't know much about the following references, but I read/watched them to understand a little about what had happened. What a royal mess, with bad behavior all around, apparently.
https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2009/09/the-politics-of-intimidation-come-to-chapel-hill/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-eYBW73hzQ
Incidentally, in her essay, Luana says she agrees with Holden about the potential of nuclear power to help provide a plausible environmental solution to climate change. I might agree in a hypothetical world without human conflicts, but as we are seeing right now in Eastern Europe in 2022, human conflict makes nuclear power less desirable from my viewpoint. Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are related; I don't see how they can be kept separate. I feel that this is a very complex assessment, and in part it is shrouded in the difficulty that those who are competent enough about nuclear weapons may be forbidden to express their knowledge.
I am a fan of one type of nuclear power: that fusion reactor 93 million miles away that has been reliably and safely operating for billions of years and delivers power wirelessly to humans. Without it, it'd be a very very cold world indeed, entirely uninhabitable.