My senators are helping to block attempts to reduce tax breaks for oil companies. One of them was quoted today in my local paper as saying: "...it's not going to solve the problem that most Americans are complaining about today, which is high gas prices."
Here's [a slightly edited version of ]what I wrote to him:
ARE YOU NOT PAYING ATTENTION? Today's problem is NOT 'high gas prices'; today's problem is our HUGE DEFICIT and MASSIVE NATIONAL DEBT. You and other leaders need to use every tool at your disposal to address this overriding problem of deficits, and eliminating special interest tax breaks is one of those tools. USE IT!
On a related note, as a conservative I'm sure you understand the concept that 'high prices are the cure for high prices'. In fact, direct or indirect subsidies for gasoline contribute to many other problems. They decrease demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. They encourage urban sprawl, which has too many negative effects to list here. They increase air pollution which must be countered with onerous and costly regulations, and/or causes health problems that will burden us with higher Medicare costs down the road. (Another negative impact on future budgets.) In general, gasoline tax subsidies make it harder for American companies developing new energy-efficient technologies to compete against the status quo. We both realize that gasoline in other developed countries is much more expensive than here, so companies in THOSE countries recognize the importance of these technologies, and are working hard to develop these technologies themselves.
In summary: vote to end special tax breaks for oil companies.
They're bad for the deficit.
They're bad for the environment.
They're bad for health.
They're bad for the future.
They're bad for America.
Vote to end them.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Perception vs Reality
Perception is not Reality. Reality is Reality, and Reality is too complex for mere mortals to perceive in its entirety. What we perceive is just a model of Reality. Effective models reflect what is important about Reality, and what is important depends on observer and the observer's context.
The models we use organize and simplify what we perceive about Reality, and we use these models to make decisions. Good models (can) lead to good decisions. A model is a lens through which we view Reality. When Reality changes in a significant way, the view we see through this lens changes, and this allows us to respond in an appropriate way.
Note the use of the word 'significant'. Reality is constantly changing in ways we can't hope to comprehend. Your are slightly older now than you were when you started reading this. That is an example of how swiftly and constantly Reality changes. But is your increased age significant? No! So your model of Reality doesn't take this slight aging into account. Reality changed, but your view of Reality did not.
Someone walking into the room while you are reading this may or may not be significant. If you are currently alone, the entrance of someone else probably warrants your attention. But if you're in a crowded public space (say, a library) where people are constantly coming and going, the arrival of another person makes no significant difference; it doesn't affect your view of Reality. Unless...
Unless there's something 'different' about that person. We know, in reality, EVERY person is unique, and thus every person is different. But not every difference is important in your view of the current state of the world around you. And what is 'important' is contextual and subjective.
Contextual means it depends on other things. If you're in a public library, a stranger entering the room is no big deal. If you are at home 'alone' at night, a stranger entering the room unannounced is a VERY big deal.
Even in the library example, context matters. In the segregated southern U.S. of generations past, or in the apartheid South Africa, the arrival of a black person in a public library would have been very significant, whereas today it would probably be not. The context has changed.
Importance is also subjective. Is the 'sexual preference' of the people around you (or the people around your family members) important? Some would say yes, it's very important. Others would say it's not important at all. So people of varying opinions co-exist simultaneously. It's not the context that that causes too models to assign different importance to the same fact; the difference is subjective.
So we base our judgements on models of reality, and these models reflect that we feel is important about Reality. The key thing to remember is that the models are subjective, and are NOT Reality itself. Most of the time we behave as if the model IS Reality, because that's what the model is for: the model is the view of reality on which we base our behavior. If the model is a good one, the judgments we make based on it result in appropriate responses to Reality, and we benefit.
The models we use organize and simplify what we perceive about Reality, and we use these models to make decisions. Good models (can) lead to good decisions. A model is a lens through which we view Reality. When Reality changes in a significant way, the view we see through this lens changes, and this allows us to respond in an appropriate way.
Note the use of the word 'significant'. Reality is constantly changing in ways we can't hope to comprehend. Your are slightly older now than you were when you started reading this. That is an example of how swiftly and constantly Reality changes. But is your increased age significant? No! So your model of Reality doesn't take this slight aging into account. Reality changed, but your view of Reality did not.
Someone walking into the room while you are reading this may or may not be significant. If you are currently alone, the entrance of someone else probably warrants your attention. But if you're in a crowded public space (say, a library) where people are constantly coming and going, the arrival of another person makes no significant difference; it doesn't affect your view of Reality. Unless...
Unless there's something 'different' about that person. We know, in reality, EVERY person is unique, and thus every person is different. But not every difference is important in your view of the current state of the world around you. And what is 'important' is contextual and subjective.
Contextual means it depends on other things. If you're in a public library, a stranger entering the room is no big deal. If you are at home 'alone' at night, a stranger entering the room unannounced is a VERY big deal.
Even in the library example, context matters. In the segregated southern U.S. of generations past, or in the apartheid South Africa, the arrival of a black person in a public library would have been very significant, whereas today it would probably be not. The context has changed.
Importance is also subjective. Is the 'sexual preference' of the people around you (or the people around your family members) important? Some would say yes, it's very important. Others would say it's not important at all. So people of varying opinions co-exist simultaneously. It's not the context that that causes too models to assign different importance to the same fact; the difference is subjective.
So we base our judgements on models of reality, and these models reflect that we feel is important about Reality. The key thing to remember is that the models are subjective, and are NOT Reality itself. Most of the time we behave as if the model IS Reality, because that's what the model is for: the model is the view of reality on which we base our behavior. If the model is a good one, the judgments we make based on it result in appropriate responses to Reality, and we benefit.
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