Cooperative Living October 2017 - 6

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WRITE US!
READER ENJOYS
CROSSROADS STORIES
I just wanted you to know that
I thoroughly enjoy reading the
Crossroads articles in each issue
of Cooperative Living.
Each one highlights a Virginia
community we would not know or
hear about unless featured in your
publication. It's gratifying to know that
these small communities still exist
in Virginia.
Each has a very unique and
charming story to tell! And you do
a wonderful job!
- Tony E. Munos, via email
ECLIPSE WAS NOT A FLUKE
OF NATURE
I thoroughly enjoy reading Cooperative
Living every issue. The feature articles,
Whatzit?, History Mystery, info on
saving electricity, co-op news, Say
Cheese, Crossroads and Margo
Oxendine's column make great reading.
However, in the August issue I read
something that I found somewhat
disturbing. In the Kids' Korner article
concerning the solar eclipse, the event
is referred to as a " fluke of nature. "
Doesn't the fact of the relative size of
the sun and the moon and its distance
from the sun indicate the existence of a
Great Designer? Also, people of faith
know that nothing happens " purely by
chance. " The solar eclipse was an
exciting event. We are truly blessed,
not " lucky. "
- John Lines, Culpeper
WhatzIt?
Take your best guess at this photo of a
familiar but unidentified object. Send it in
writing with your name, address and phone
number to WhatzIt?, c/o Cooperat ive Living,
P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340;
or guess online at www.co-opliving.com
under " Contests. " Dead line for entries is
Oct. 20, 2017. All correct entries will be put
into a drawing and a winner announced in
the January 2018 issue. The winner will
re ceive a check for $25. 
APPLIED PHYSICS AND
THEORETICAL PHYSICS
ARE DIFFERENT THINGS
One of the main problems
with environmental science,
global warming and public
figures like Al Gore is a
fundamental misunderstanding
of the difference between
applied and theoretical physics.
Put simply, theoretical
physics - the underpinning of
global warming - is best thought of
as Dick Tracy, where applied physics
is the iPhone.
Sure, Tracy may have been eventually
proven right by Steve Jobs, but it was
purely fictional until the first iPhone.
It was not fact.
When something is not a fact, it can
be a theory based on fact, but that is still
a fancy way of saying fiction.
The cold, hard truth is theoretical
physicists are science-fiction authors
with PhDs. They don't like hearing that,
and I don't like saying it, and Al Gore
refuses to believe it, but it is what it is.
More theories will be proven wrong
than proven right, string theory included.
This is not to diminish these scientists'
brilliance or their achievements, but
merely to put things back into
perspective. Because a theoretical
physicist says something does not make
it a fact any more than if it came out
of a comic book.
Today, there are at least four different
theories on quantum physics being
taught. People spend a fortune learning
We want to hear from you - comments,
opinions, suggestions. Your letter must be
signed and legible. We reserve the right to
edit for grammar, style and length, with
a 250-word maximum for acceptance.
Write: MAILBAG, P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA
23058-2340; or email mailbag@co-opliving.com.
Please include your name and city/town of
residence, with Mailbag as the subject.
them, being tested on them, being graded
on them ... when the only fact we know
for sure is that at least three of them are
wrong. At least three out of four might
as well be learning Hogwarts. Fiction.
But because they pay money and take
tests, it gives them the delusion that
what they are learning has value equal
to the effort and price paid ... when
common sense says most will learn
fiction, not fact.
The worst part for most of these
graduates is not that they spent a fortune
learning fiction (theory is fiction), but
that along the way they lost critical
thinking and common sense, something
few ever get back.
The reality is that computer models are
really video games with bad graphics;
they are not facts and do not generate
facts, nor should they be treated as such.
They generate guesses. Nobody would
turn an Indy car over to the best driver
of grand theft auto, nor should we give
our economy over to a climate model.
Unfortunately, too many people hear
what they want to hear, and thus willfully
confuse theory (fiction) with fact.
The August 2017
WhatzIt?
 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?
4 | Cooperative Living | October 2017
was a monarch
butterfly wing
and reader
Rithika Guntu
of Ashburn was
our $25 winner.
Congratulations,
Rithika!
www.co-opliving.com
NOTE
EMAIL
ADDRESS
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Cooperative Living October 2017

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