"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Albert Einstein

End of Greenanswers.com Internship! All-time most ridiculous questions.

October 19, 2009

Society, Some Comments

4 comments

While doing this internship with Greenanswers.com, I’ve come across many, many questions that I find to be quite ridiculous. Sometimes, it made me wonder what kinds of people are posting questions on this website, and if they ever received any basic understanding of science from their schooling. I don’t mean to be offensive by saying this, but it just boggles my mind that there is a huge number of these types of questions being posted on the website.

Disclaimer: I don’t have anything against the actual website, but the types of questions that populate it. I think that the greenanswers.com people are trying to do a great thing and I’m glad that a site like this exists. I had a great experience working with them and often enjoyed answering questions. I look forward to the future development of the site and will go back to check it out often.

Of the ridiculous questions, here are some of my all-time favorites (mostly from the past two weeks):

• If nature is so smart, why can’t it take care of global warming?
• Why does it get so dark at night?
• What is the best meal for the environment? Breakfast, lunch or dinner?
• Has there ever been proof of dragons? (This was posted under the Mammals section.)
• Are pancakes greener than waffles?
• Self powering energy, is it possible?
• What is the difference between a sun and a moon?
• What is the crop that is essential to human life?
• How long does the West Coast last?
• How are we going to get poor nations to make green changes to their way of life?
• Why don’t more people view soil as a non-renewable resources? Is it because they are dirty?
• From the environmental perspective, is there any need for the United States Postal Service?
• Does a tree scream?
• Is grass the ultimate survivor?

The main issues that I have with these questions are that Continue reading →

Favorite News Items from the week of 10/5

October 9, 2009

News

3 comments

Here are some interesting stories that I read this week:

Some of my favorite questions

September 12, 2009

Misc, Society

(No comments)

Here are some of my favorite questions that I have answered as part of my internship with GreenAnswers.com:

Q: Do you think we should try and make earth day more important to American people?

A: I’m not sure it would do much for the overall cause. Raising awareness is important and everything, but it shouldn’t be concentrated on one day. People will not change their lifestyles if they get the feeling that thinking about Earth on Earth Day is what environmental awareness is about. We need to make it a part of our mentality, not a special holiday.

Q: Would it be easier to tell what websites were green if they were to have a .eco domain name?

A: That is a pretty cool idea. I wonder who would be in charge of giving out the domains though, and what the requirements would be, and how those reqs would be enforced. Would they be green because they are powered by renewable energy? Would there be an underlying green philosophy? Who would stop people from abusing this?

Q: Are Americans too lazy to become sustainable?

A: I’m not sure if it is laziness, or overall resistance to change. I think people in general wouldn’t care much if they didn’t have to do anything to change their lifestyle. Americans are most protective of their lifestyle (of excessiveness). They aren’t too lazy to defend themselves about that. They are lazy in that they don’t want to go out and find out the details about things. They will believe things they see on TV or hear from their friends, but they won’t go the extra step to confirm for themselves what is the truth.

Continue reading →