- Sep 22, 2013
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This is an eco-parable inspired by Erin Brockovich.
Anyone a fan of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation?
Signing off (Happy Cinco de Mayo weekend, USMB!),
====
An angel of heaven sent the magical sprite Squirrel-Girl down to Earth to oversee some of the new age commercial developments regarding the mass use of computers. Email had drastically reduced the demand for paper-mail and hence for paper. This meant that less trees had to be cut down for civilization-use! Squirrel-Girl was very happy about this, but she wondered if such a 'convenience-based trophy' could create a dangerous new form of 'moral apathy.' What if corporations and everyday people now thought that computers, technology, and video-games were somehow 'very beneficial' or even educational? Squirrel-Girl realized she had to now warn humanity of the dangers of computer-obsession (e.g., hypnotic Facebook surfing!).
As Squirrel-Girl evaluated the situation, she concluded that she would have to go to a science-oriented American college/university to encourage computer-science students (tomorrow's 'pioneers') to think more 'prudently' about the psycho-sociological impact of mass computer use in modern civilization. Squirrel-Girl decided to visit the campus of M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), a renowned American university for the study of science and mathematics, and encourage the computer-science students to consider the modern metaphysical 'value' of naturalism-themed creativity and tech-free 'art.' Squirrel-Girl found an idealistic female student named Chloe who was investigating virus-algorithm randomness in Internet portals. Squirrel-Girl visited Chloe in a dream and told her to make a stick-figure doodle of her (since of course Squirrel-Girl represented nature-meditation). Chloe awoke in a cold sweat and decided to do just what Squirrel-Girl commanded her to do!
Chloe made a very simple child-like stick-figure color-pencil 'doodle' of Squirrel-Girl. She then waited for Squirrel-Girl to 'contact' her again. That night, Squirrel-Girl visited her again and commanded her to take her "Squirrel-Girl Doodle" (SGD) to her M.I.T. faculty-advisor/mentor and ask him what she should do to integrate her Internet virus-algorithm study with a treatise on the 'ergonomic' impact of mass computer-use in modern civilization. Chloe awoke the next day and did just that, and her faculty-advisor (Dr. Kildare) told her to include ideas in her report about the intersections between population dynamics (and hence nature!) and the impact of the frequency of computer-use on algorithm stability (on the Internet). Chloe's research-paper, now enhanced, won her the Nobel Prize. At her awards-reception, Chloe stated, "Squirrel-Girl has reminded us that how much we use computers is as important as our imaginings of a world without computers!" Unfortunately, not everyone shared Chloe's idealism --- including a corporate-executive named Thomas Rand who was busy trying to use legal-loopholes to spin a terrible situation involving an employee becoming horribly disfigured during a toxic-waste drum spill.
Rand was trying to help both the horribly disfigured employee (a man named Alex Olsen) and his company at the same time which was guilty of mishandling/dumping toxic waste. As Rand tried to use legal-loopholes to clear his corrupt company's now-smeared name as well as prepare some kind of life-reparations for the desperate Alex Olsen, Squirrel-Girl knew that Chloe's Nobel-winning study of the population-dynamics aspects of computer-use in modern civilization would mostly go unnoticed/unappreciated by eco-activists. Squirrel-Girl decided to return to heaven and ask the guardian Apollyon (also named 'Lord Shiva'), master of the elements and the trident-weapon of nature, to deal with this terrible modernism-problem. Shiva/Apollyon agreed the problem was grave and knew that the cunning adversary of mankind, Satan, was busy capitalizing on this modern problem. Shiva decided to engage Satan in a symbolic debate about eco-activism.
SHIVA: Chloe's intriguing study should gain more attention...
SATAN: Perhaps that's true, but do men actually care about Earth?
SHIVA: Sure the do! What about the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation?
SATAN: Yes, well, that celebrity-operated eco-activism group is well-known.
SHIVA: Leo has a custom-made website dedicated to his Foundation.
SATAN: Yes, the website is quite impressive!
SHIVA: So, doesn't that mean that men do care about eco-activism?
SATAN: I'm not sure; maybe Leo's just being idealistic and his supporters are mere 'groupies.'
SHIVA: But Leo's using celebrity-status to garner interest in eco-activism, no?
SATAN: Agreed. However, men do not always believe in what they do.
SHIVA: What do you mean?
SATAN: Just look at countless stockbrokers working like mindless ants for profits!
SHIVA: Maybe capitalism is somewhat 'mindless,' but there are those fighting for democracy.
SATAN: Such as Leo DiCaprio?
SHIVA: Precisely...
SATAN: Maybe Leo should be encouraged to give lectures with Chloe!
SHIVA: That's a formidable idea; let's ask Squirrel-Girl to set that up.
SATAN: What if no one cares about Alex Olsen --- disfigured by toxic-waste(!)?
SHIVA: God will remember Alex Olsen; in the meantime, we have to help Chloe.
SATAN: I'll present Squirrel-Girl with photo-negatives of the Old West and Pony Express.
SHIVA: Excellent. Chloe can use those to talk about the accessibility of tools.
SATAN: It's the Age of Great Deformity (AGD).
====
Anyone a fan of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation?
Signing off (Happy Cinco de Mayo weekend, USMB!),
====
An angel of heaven sent the magical sprite Squirrel-Girl down to Earth to oversee some of the new age commercial developments regarding the mass use of computers. Email had drastically reduced the demand for paper-mail and hence for paper. This meant that less trees had to be cut down for civilization-use! Squirrel-Girl was very happy about this, but she wondered if such a 'convenience-based trophy' could create a dangerous new form of 'moral apathy.' What if corporations and everyday people now thought that computers, technology, and video-games were somehow 'very beneficial' or even educational? Squirrel-Girl realized she had to now warn humanity of the dangers of computer-obsession (e.g., hypnotic Facebook surfing!).
As Squirrel-Girl evaluated the situation, she concluded that she would have to go to a science-oriented American college/university to encourage computer-science students (tomorrow's 'pioneers') to think more 'prudently' about the psycho-sociological impact of mass computer use in modern civilization. Squirrel-Girl decided to visit the campus of M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), a renowned American university for the study of science and mathematics, and encourage the computer-science students to consider the modern metaphysical 'value' of naturalism-themed creativity and tech-free 'art.' Squirrel-Girl found an idealistic female student named Chloe who was investigating virus-algorithm randomness in Internet portals. Squirrel-Girl visited Chloe in a dream and told her to make a stick-figure doodle of her (since of course Squirrel-Girl represented nature-meditation). Chloe awoke in a cold sweat and decided to do just what Squirrel-Girl commanded her to do!
Chloe made a very simple child-like stick-figure color-pencil 'doodle' of Squirrel-Girl. She then waited for Squirrel-Girl to 'contact' her again. That night, Squirrel-Girl visited her again and commanded her to take her "Squirrel-Girl Doodle" (SGD) to her M.I.T. faculty-advisor/mentor and ask him what she should do to integrate her Internet virus-algorithm study with a treatise on the 'ergonomic' impact of mass computer-use in modern civilization. Chloe awoke the next day and did just that, and her faculty-advisor (Dr. Kildare) told her to include ideas in her report about the intersections between population dynamics (and hence nature!) and the impact of the frequency of computer-use on algorithm stability (on the Internet). Chloe's research-paper, now enhanced, won her the Nobel Prize. At her awards-reception, Chloe stated, "Squirrel-Girl has reminded us that how much we use computers is as important as our imaginings of a world without computers!" Unfortunately, not everyone shared Chloe's idealism --- including a corporate-executive named Thomas Rand who was busy trying to use legal-loopholes to spin a terrible situation involving an employee becoming horribly disfigured during a toxic-waste drum spill.
Rand was trying to help both the horribly disfigured employee (a man named Alex Olsen) and his company at the same time which was guilty of mishandling/dumping toxic waste. As Rand tried to use legal-loopholes to clear his corrupt company's now-smeared name as well as prepare some kind of life-reparations for the desperate Alex Olsen, Squirrel-Girl knew that Chloe's Nobel-winning study of the population-dynamics aspects of computer-use in modern civilization would mostly go unnoticed/unappreciated by eco-activists. Squirrel-Girl decided to return to heaven and ask the guardian Apollyon (also named 'Lord Shiva'), master of the elements and the trident-weapon of nature, to deal with this terrible modernism-problem. Shiva/Apollyon agreed the problem was grave and knew that the cunning adversary of mankind, Satan, was busy capitalizing on this modern problem. Shiva decided to engage Satan in a symbolic debate about eco-activism.
SHIVA: Chloe's intriguing study should gain more attention...
SATAN: Perhaps that's true, but do men actually care about Earth?
SHIVA: Sure the do! What about the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation?
SATAN: Yes, well, that celebrity-operated eco-activism group is well-known.
SHIVA: Leo has a custom-made website dedicated to his Foundation.
SATAN: Yes, the website is quite impressive!
SHIVA: So, doesn't that mean that men do care about eco-activism?
SATAN: I'm not sure; maybe Leo's just being idealistic and his supporters are mere 'groupies.'
SHIVA: But Leo's using celebrity-status to garner interest in eco-activism, no?
SATAN: Agreed. However, men do not always believe in what they do.
SHIVA: What do you mean?
SATAN: Just look at countless stockbrokers working like mindless ants for profits!
SHIVA: Maybe capitalism is somewhat 'mindless,' but there are those fighting for democracy.
SATAN: Such as Leo DiCaprio?
SHIVA: Precisely...
SATAN: Maybe Leo should be encouraged to give lectures with Chloe!
SHIVA: That's a formidable idea; let's ask Squirrel-Girl to set that up.
SATAN: What if no one cares about Alex Olsen --- disfigured by toxic-waste(!)?
SHIVA: God will remember Alex Olsen; in the meantime, we have to help Chloe.
SATAN: I'll present Squirrel-Girl with photo-negatives of the Old West and Pony Express.
SHIVA: Excellent. Chloe can use those to talk about the accessibility of tools.
SATAN: It's the Age of Great Deformity (AGD).
====