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Wednesday Wild Card: A Rambling News Post

Listening to the radio this morning I was both gladdened and saddened to hear…

So much stuff, so little time. Following a great meeting of the Edmonton Skeptics last night, I have the inclination to share a little news.

Apparently we’re all still alive after the Large Hadron Collider came online this morning. As London’s Telegraph put it (tongue firmly in cheek, I hope): “Large Hadron Collider doesn’t cause the end of the world - yet (Last Updated: 11:01am BST 10/09/2008) The Earth didn’t move, or even twitch. And it certainly didn’t end - as you can tell by the fact you are reading this.”[1] If readers are not excited about the potential learnings that will befall physics because of this massive project, they don’t understand it. I am not adept to explain it in brief terms here but I would suggest poking around the net for more information and insight. And, despite our continued existence, watch for the rhetoric around the (uneducated) postulated collapse of space-time continuum due to this project to only ramp up as the official “non-test” runs near.

Listening to the radio this morning I was glad to hear a news clip about the new Provincial human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine program for Grade 5 girls The Calgary Herald tells us that: “Alberta is forging ahead with a program to immunize schoolgirls against the virus that causes cervical cancer, despite controversy among religious leaders about the plan and a recent study linking the vaccine with allergic reactions.”[2] Objections I’ve heard have come from the moderate “promiscuity argument” camp, stating that this is an excuse for girls to go out and have sex without fear of HPV — only leading to more promiscuous teenagers down the road. Not only is this a logical fallacy in argument, but I have a great big question for the people who think HPV is the number one concern for so-called promiscuous teenagers. Um, pregnancy? Or maybe this will be taking away just one more tool for those same folks to invoke fear into their children. Sorry, but threats and guilt are not part of the skeptical parents toolbox.

On of the Skepchicks asks: “are you a secular parent with a story?” I wandered across that post late last night and only had time to post a link here (hopefully they don’t delete it!) but I’m sure some of my readers might have a tale or two to tell.

And finally, my heart goes out to the Edmonton family who lost their 14-month old to a decorative pond earlier this week. I was feeding The Girl breakfast as I was listening to the radio story this morning and I’m not ashamed to say I was a little shaken as I sympathized with the parents. If you have not read the story, the short version is supplied by the Edmonton Sun: “A 14-month-old toddler has died after drowning in a backyard pond last night in south Edmonton. Paramedics rushed to a house in Mill Woods after the baby managed to get out of the home.” [3] My skeptical inclination on this tragedy, however, is not to aim for tighter regulations. Instead, simply to note that it highlights the tough job of being a parent and the delicate balance between extremes of wrapping our kids in bubble sheets versus letting them run free in a potentially dangerous world. That is, balancing our motivation to protect them from everything versus their drive towards independence.

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/09/10/scicern410.xml
[2] http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=319560ba-88a4-4f0b-814b-7ad23e29ad7d
[3] http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/09/09/6713316.html

The SkepDad Blog is meant to casually reflect on questions surrounding parenting and raising kids to become critical thinkers by asking questions and examining parenting ideas with a skeptical eye for facts and science. Each article is one dad's personal opinion, backed (where relevant) by literature and published research, or otherwise based on personal experiences and insights. SkepDad welcomes balanced discussion, comments, and ideas.

September 10, 2008 by Brad
Filed as: Encounters of the Mind

Popularity: 9%

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