The Gordian Knot News has been accused of preaching to the choir. It is almost certainly true that most of our readers already believe that nuclear power has an important if not dominant role to play in addressing the Gordian Knot. This is indeed unfortunate. To make matters worse, this choir appears to be a most inattentive and unruly lot.
When I suggested yesterday that you are "preaching to the choir," I really didn't mean you in particular. I know little about your readership other than what I can estimate by reading the comments. My experience is that too many pro-nuclear commentators have readers that are already almost all pro-nuclear to start with -- the Amen choir. But the same is true for any controversial topic, I guess. Getting the attention of others who are non-technical and have been mislead by the media is the challenge. That's why I mentioned PragerU and Oliver Stone's new movie. We need to get the word out about these attempts to educate the general public -- then maybe your readership will increase too.
You along with others in the Gordian Knot choir keep missing the point, no matter how many different ways I say it. The problem is NOT the public. The problem is a corrupt nuclear establishment feeding off the taxpayer and a regulatory system designed to make nuclear prohibitively expensive. Get rid of that establishment and replace that regulatory system with one that has built in checks and balance, promote competition among the nuclear vendors, then nuclear will blossom. Don't do that, then nothing happens.
I found your take very amusing but of course the situation isn't very funny. However please don't get depressed, you write clearly and extremely well and the reviews on the Gordian Knot help us in the choir clarify our thoughts. There are not many people who do understand nuclear power and write well enough to spread the facts. Keep up the good work.
I have been sitting quietly at the back of the choir, but listening closely to the sermon. I leave the choir daily and talk to all the people I know about the messages from the pulpit. They are tired of my insistence, but I am armed with knowledge, with perspective and with facts that would otherwise be unknown to me. There are many paths of argument which will not prove fruitful and you help me avoid these pitfalls. For example, I don't argue for a threshold, I argue for a strongly nonlinear response such as a logistic curve.
I am sensing frustration in your latest sermon. I would like to assure you that there are many others like myself out of sight at the back of the choir that are learning the gospel and actively spreading the gospel.
I feel that the tide of public opinion is changing.
Whenever anyone accuses me of "preaching to the choir," I remind them that all successful evangelists spend most of their time preaching to both their choir and the larger congregations whose attendance at weekly strategy sessions might be less regular.
Energizing, educating and inspiring followers is one of several necessary ways to make lasting changes in attitudes and actions. Keep up the good work.
"Nuclear power plant releases are both inevitable and tolerable. As long as reasonable buffer zones are provided, and kids are prevented from drinking I-131 contaminated milk, most releases will produce no detectable radiation harm to the public. See Three Mile Island, Windscale, Fukushima, even Chernobyl."
I expect we'll see greater use of nuclear in many other nations before the US regulatory situation changes much. But at some point when the US is in enough pain, and something like the foregoing perspective has been adopted in other parts of the world, we'll finally open up and make progress. In the meantime, there is a steadily growing segment of the educated public which is changing its perspective on nuclear energy.
When I suggested yesterday that you are "preaching to the choir," I really didn't mean you in particular. I know little about your readership other than what I can estimate by reading the comments. My experience is that too many pro-nuclear commentators have readers that are already almost all pro-nuclear to start with -- the Amen choir. But the same is true for any controversial topic, I guess. Getting the attention of others who are non-technical and have been mislead by the media is the challenge. That's why I mentioned PragerU and Oliver Stone's new movie. We need to get the word out about these attempts to educate the general public -- then maybe your readership will increase too.
Russ,
You along with others in the Gordian Knot choir keep missing the point, no matter how many different ways I say it. The problem is NOT the public. The problem is a corrupt nuclear establishment feeding off the taxpayer and a regulatory system designed to make nuclear prohibitively expensive. Get rid of that establishment and replace that regulatory system with one that has built in checks and balance, promote competition among the nuclear vendors, then nuclear will blossom. Don't do that, then nothing happens.
Terrific summary of the state of "play"!
I found your take very amusing but of course the situation isn't very funny. However please don't get depressed, you write clearly and extremely well and the reviews on the Gordian Knot help us in the choir clarify our thoughts. There are not many people who do understand nuclear power and write well enough to spread the facts. Keep up the good work.
Dear Jack.
I have been sitting quietly at the back of the choir, but listening closely to the sermon. I leave the choir daily and talk to all the people I know about the messages from the pulpit. They are tired of my insistence, but I am armed with knowledge, with perspective and with facts that would otherwise be unknown to me. There are many paths of argument which will not prove fruitful and you help me avoid these pitfalls. For example, I don't argue for a threshold, I argue for a strongly nonlinear response such as a logistic curve.
I am sensing frustration in your latest sermon. I would like to assure you that there are many others like myself out of sight at the back of the choir that are learning the gospel and actively spreading the gospel.
I feel that the tide of public opinion is changing.
Sincerely,
Paul Montgomery
Whenever anyone accuses me of "preaching to the choir," I remind them that all successful evangelists spend most of their time preaching to both their choir and the larger congregations whose attendance at weekly strategy sessions might be less regular.
Energizing, educating and inspiring followers is one of several necessary ways to make lasting changes in attitudes and actions. Keep up the good work.
This is a helpful concise summary,
"Nuclear power plant releases are both inevitable and tolerable. As long as reasonable buffer zones are provided, and kids are prevented from drinking I-131 contaminated milk, most releases will produce no detectable radiation harm to the public. See Three Mile Island, Windscale, Fukushima, even Chernobyl."
I expect we'll see greater use of nuclear in many other nations before the US regulatory situation changes much. But at some point when the US is in enough pain, and something like the foregoing perspective has been adopted in other parts of the world, we'll finally open up and make progress. In the meantime, there is a steadily growing segment of the educated public which is changing its perspective on nuclear energy.