The Eve of ?

One of the many interesting points in the PBS documentary "From Jesus to Christ" is that scholars do not believe that Jesus was born anywhere close to the 25th of December. So what is this really the eve of? I can't help but recall that sixties song "The Eve of Destruction." It wasn't then and it isn't now, at least in the short run.

If all the world's theists recognized that they are all worshiping the same god it would do a lot to ease the religious warfare. It is that simple. Of course, it would help if they stopped seeing God as a Big Guy who bothers to intervene in world events and rather just looked at theism as a way to make sense of the universe or the human race as having a purpose. What gets in the way is the human mind, which mostly evolved in hunter-gatherer societies. But Robert Wright says that religion evolved in ways that keep us from seeing that life is a zero-sum game (if one wins, the other must lose). Rather, like trade, both can win. "If more and more Muslims feel respected by the West and feel they benefit from involvement with it, that will cut support for radical Islam, and westerners will be more secure from terrorism" (page 415). Win-win.

In the shorter term, there are some sticky problems. One is Iran. What we really should hope for the most is that the reform movement succeeds and reestablishes democracy. Unfortunately, this whole argument over the nuclear issue is going to be used by the conservatives to rally people behind nationalistic feelings. Here is a good article about the dilemma.

Gwynne Dyer's piece in the op-ed section of the Trib today suggests that what needs to happen is that the U.S. populace needs to realize that the U.S. needs to pay for most of the reduction in CO2. Mr. Dyer is a Canadien who lives in London and does not realize that this is not going to happen here, at least fast enough to make a difference. And so world meetings are not going to solve the problem. Sorry to be a pessimist on this. Human beings are going to have to adapt or some technological changes are going to have to occur. We have the technology to replace coal-burning plants. It is what France did. Nuclear power. However, we need to solve the transportation problem which causes dependence on oil. Gee, what about plug-in electric cars? We could use better batteries, but the solution is there already. And how about cheap solar energy not dependent on the grid? We just need the technology to be cheaper, or at least cheaper relative to energy from the grid. The U.S. can be a leader here, which would also alleviate the temptation to play superpower in the Middle East.

The brilliant Alma Guillermoprieto, author of several wonderful books on Latin America, has a report from Bolivia which shows just one of the problems that we will have to adapt to or overcome, the shortage of water in a globally warming world.

If one realizes what most of the world was thinking in 1910, one realizes that in 2010 we really have no idea what the world will be like in 30 years. Let's hope we don't have to undergo a history similar to theirs.

Addendum: This article tells me that I should follow my own advice. In 1910, who predicted the personal computer or the internet?