SCIENCE, HISTORY, OREGON’S BOOMER BLOGGER

Image from the Smithsonian via DG Studios

Boomerpdx: Where science and history collide.

Science and history carry the weight of understanding our common roots.

First science, then history. Why?

The early people didn’t read or write. By the time their remains were discovered in the fossil strata enough people made the connections.

Look at those skulls. Do you see a Darth Vader mask?

Those eye sockets look huge, and don’t say, “All the better to see you with, my dear.”

Which is more difficult, science or history?

Which deserves more respect?

On one hand, common knowledge says history is written by the winners.

This explanation works if you believe all the people on the losing side of conflict were either dead, or silenced by fear.

Now we’re finding more history from sources besides generals, presidents, and tycoons.

Who would have guessed women have their own take on history, that minorities always had stories that never made the front page, that members of vanquished peoples still carry memories.

In modern times, forgotten history rounds out the big stories we’ve learned over a lifetime.

Anything less is to deny out common ground, and there’s plenty of common ground in spite of elections, and protests, and marches.

New kids on the block.

These four heads aren’t talking, but if they did they’d talk through a scientist.

Call it hard fact, or opinion, where ever you stand says more about you than any skull or bone fragment.

You don’t have to believe in evolution. It’s not against the law to believe the earth is 6000 years old, that man showed up whole, that women came from a man’s rib.

No one’s breaking the law by going anti-science, just common ground.

Imagine meeting someone you haven’t seen in a few years and they lean in to explain how wrong the science you both learned was.

Do you suspect, A. They hit their head, B. They’re loaded as hell, or C. They’ve had a dramatic conversion experience?

Maybe all three.

When they frame their observation right wing radio style, you’ve got your answer: none of the above.

BoomerPDX works to keep doors open. I even carry a special key to open locked doors. Not everyone enjoys that sort of ventilation.

If you try and prove someone wrong, like a climate change skeptic, look harder. They probably don’t agree with other things, like evolution.

If you can’t find common ground, build it.

A good foundation isn’t the same as scraping the bottom of the barrel, it’s a start.

Maybe it’s family, or sports, or your state. Just use what works.

Eventually you’ll find yourself on the same side of something, and that’s a yes.

Dark clouds split, a ray of hope eeks through, and somehow you’ve found agreement.

Common ground is good for the future, and once you stake it out, it’s pretty good for the present.

History and science collide in the moment. Make something out of it.

You’re on a roll.