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Re: Implications for Space Topic
Hey, folks:
This is not a criticism of Lisa, who I think is a very bright person and
an excellent debate coach, but I just want to point out that this type of
thing is exactly why I dislike the Space topic. Writers of inflammatory
anti-science tend to make much more dramatic statements (and therefore
better cards) than those who restrict themselves to statements which are
supported by actual data. The assertion that plutonium is "the most toxic
substance known," is simply wrong, and the "impact" cards towards the
bottom (billions killed by lung cancer, and one fossil thinks that a
previous accident led to worldwide increases in lung cancer, despite the
confounding factors like cigarette marketing and increased industrial
pollution) are baseless. The scenario assumes that the entire 72 pounds
of plutonium would be blown into equally-sized bits and injected directly
into the bloodstreams of the humans below, with none of it falling into
oceans, hitting empty land, or getting ingested by other species. Of
course, the risks of the mishap occurring in the first place are grossly
exaggerated, but I would be willing to ignore that if the subsequent
analysis were even marginally accurate.
Unfortunately, none of this analysis would come out in the round, and the
judge would be stuck with voting on "kill billions by launching," versus
"kill billions by preventing a transition to social ecology." Some of the
debaters and coaches would even go home believing that the Cassini probe's
power source might actually matter in the real world.
Sorry, I'm getting cynical again. I think I'll go play with some
chemicals.
--Alan
__________________
Alan Dove
N3IMU
ad52@columbia.edu
http://128.59.173.136/Poliolab/Alan/Dove.html
References:
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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