Our Planet on Netflix

Recently a friend threw me a link.  It was a link to a digital political rag I will simply refer to as Bull Art News. The article, critical of climate science, was written by an English Literature graduate.  I will name him Bean Pole. He claims to know climate science but references only an anonymous blogger.  

It is shocking what passes for journalism on the Web.

Bean Pole was angry. I suspect he takes exception with all the great scientific organizations like the UK’s Royal Society, our National Academies of Science, or the American Meteorological Society or any of the other 200 topped ranked reputable science institutions on our planet. The target in his column was one documentary and one man.

Bean Pole focused his ire on the collaborative documentary by Netflix and the British Broadcasting Corporation venture called “Our Planet”. Bean Pole went to town attempting to vilify Sir David Attenborough. That was certainly audacious.  David Attenborough was not titled “Sir” for writing a climate column. He is an English broadcaster and natural historian who has led the creation of 9 natural history documentaries for the BBC. He has received 32 honorary degrees from British Universities and received at least 13 major international awards. In Britain, he is widely considered a national treasure. Good luck Bean Pole!

To counter Bean Pole’s article, I was going to write a long column on the five characteristics of denialism.  I was planning to use Bean Pole’s assertions to show you how we are taken for intellectual pushovers. For the sake of brevity, that column will have to wait.  You can start your own research into separating truth from male bovine, by going to the links at the end of my column*.

 I encourage you to watch the Netflix, BBC collaboration with Sir David Attenborough’s narration. This may be the last opportunity to listen to a man considered by his country-men a national treasure. He will be 93 on the 8^th of May. The series is called, “Our Planet”.

I can size up the documentary for different viewing audiences as follows:

If you have no sense of awe for the gift of God’s Creation, the documentary will be of no value to you.

If you love the spell-binding beauty, art, spirituality, and mystery of nature, this is your chance to revel in it. Critics claim the BBC has reached a level in cinematography never before attained.

If you are a person whose soul still connects to our mother earth it will be unsettling.

Let me know what you think of “Our Planet” at climatelynx@earthlink.net

Educational Links:

*Five Characteristic of denialism: https://skepticalscience.com/5-characteristics-of-scientific-denialism.html 

*How to evaluate information?  The CRAAP test:

The Michigan information evaluation website: https://libguides.cmich.edu/web_research/craap  or go to: https://printableworksheets.in/worksheet/craap This is an evaluation ranking system that helps you gauge whether your research, and hence opinions, have merit. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.

Many articles on the Web are written by well paid, “Liars for Hire” as Eric Alterman describes men and organizations employed by Big Oil and Tobacco to deceive us. These skilled communicators know how to exploit our prejudices and insecurities. The sociological and psychological exploitation of our tribal nature is what the Russians attempted, and some experts assert used successfully, (or unsuccessfully), to divide and exploit us prior to the 2016 election. There is no time like the present to arm ourselves with rational habits. We can start by learning how to tell good science from bad science, (BS).

Some digital news organizations are creating a reputation for themselves not for reliable news, but for lies. Here is a Wikipedia link evaluating one digital propaganda site:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breitbart_News