How do we cut through the arguments?

President Message eNews September #2 2018

I was talking with our NSW Branch President, Graham Wood, who was expressing despair about a friend of his who was totally dismissive of the concerns that SPA has about the sort of future we face if governments around the world do not address the population issue. He read out to me what he had written in the small hours of the morning in response to that uninformed and dismissive attitude, and he has agreed to share it with you.   ‘When someone discards the rigor of following the Scientific Process because “it’s not necessary” or “the cause – effect is obvious” we need to ask them:  “Does the right hand side of your brain hold on so dearly to your narratives and deeply held beliefs that it won’t risk allowing the left hand side of your brain to methodically validate or disprove your beliefs, which either commits you to a lifetime of cognitive dissonance or to lose an erroneous but precious and conveniently held belief?”I’m always listening for new ways to express a SPA perspective, or simply for a telling way to cut through some of the arguments. So here are a couple of recent examples.The former Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, David Papps, in an interview on ‘AM’ described the Nationals Leader and Deputy Prime Minister McCormack, as ‘scientifically illiterate’. Ouch! It’s a term we can co-opt to use in relation to the failure of our leaders to factually engage on population numbers.And the secretary of the SA-NT Branch, Michael Lardelli, has submitted a letter to the Adelaide Advertiser asking despairingly ‘Should politicians be forced to sit a maths test before they can stand for election?’Sandra Kanck

National President

president@population.org.au