Dante
"The Libido for the Ugly"
Here we are - back again -- Because facts matter. Think of it as a public service.
There exist sources of information that are available to all of us. Some are credible, some are not, and some are incomplete. People are not always aware of how what they choose to absorb and later distribute isn't always credible, factual - truth."According to a study published Wednesday (October 9, 2024), in the journal Plos One, it comes down to believing you have all the information you need to form an opinion, even when you don’t."
quote: “People are more open-minded and willing to change their opinions than we assume,” *Fletcher said. However, “this same flexibility doesn’t apply to long-held differences, such as political beliefs.” .
“Our brains are overconfident that they can arrive at a reasonable conclusion with very little information,” said Angus Fletcher, a professor of English at Ohio State University, who co-wrote the study.
Second-guessers like Elon Musk: Could better brush clearance have helped slow the spread of the Palisades fire
“We knew the winds were coming. We knew that there was brush that needed to be cleared 20 years ago,” Rick Caruso, the developer and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate, told The Times.
“This fire could have been mitigated — maybe not prevented.”
Elon Musk wrote on X
that the “biggest factor, in my opinion, is that crazy environmental regulations prevent building firebreaks and clearing brush near houses.” And actress-producer Sara Foster chimed in with an X post
saying “our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared.”
Dear experts-on-everything, what did real experts who are strong proponents of brush clearance have to say?Did these and other second-guessers have a point? Scientists, wildfire specialists and firefighting officials had differing viewpoints. But several of these experts — including strong proponents of brush clearance — said that the winds fanning the flames were so fierce, and ground conditions so dry, that clearing more shrubs wouldn’t have had a significant effect.
Could better brush clearance have helped slow the spread of the Palisades fire?
As the Palisades fire raged, critics blamed overgrown vegetation for driving its spread. But some scientists and fire officials say removing it may not have made much of a difference, and also risks making the landscape more flammable in the long run.
www.latimes.com
“All of the brush clearance, fuel breaks — they’re very effective on what we would consider a normal day,” said Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority. “But what you’re talking about here is probably less than 1% of all the fires that we respond to in Southern California.”
The Palisades fire ignited Jan. 7 amid hurricane-force winds, with gusts of up to 100 mph recorded in some areas.
“You could have put a 10-lane freeway in front of that fire and it would not have slowed it one bit,” Fennessy said.
Vegetation management efforts are typically most effective when firefighters are able to take advantage of the reduced fire intensity they provide to snuff out flames.
