Cultural Theory Today - 9 Sept 25

Two stories for today.

1. HHS released a report on childhood health that affirmed the Secretary's biases on diet and exercise and his vaccine skepticism - calling for a study on the negative effects of vaccination. A better path would be a study on the actual causes of autism - which will point to genetics rather than impurities in the environment or vaccines. RFK is making decisions based on values - which is part of the job of one appointed by an elected official who shares these values - or has a constituency that does. The problem is that the Secretary has control of scientific decisions. We need to wall that off or put research in a department that requires credentials to head. Such a department should also study climate change without political interference.

2. Not so cultural - we hit an Unidentified Arial Body with a reaper drone. We connected and the UAB, after taking the hit and destroying the drone, righted itself and kept going. Essentially, we fired on tech that is out of this world. Hopefully, this does not show the rest of the galaxy that we are dangerous, although the fact that we believe in the existence of evil, rather than seeing it as a human invention means that we are still primitive and dangerous, which means we will be isolated from the rest of any galactic civilization. If we were to develop socially, we would not need advanced tech - we could have access to it just by joining the rest of sentient life. That this is the case is what makes this a cultural story. 

Othering people by calling them evil is a values decision, not a reasonable one, and it is a group intuition, not a sensory reaction. Although some initial racism is an evolutionary adaptation regarding danger - why can go beyond it with effort. Our efforts have largely been going the other way.

Note to the U.S. Navy - don't shoot at alien tech.