QuoteNo one cared about the geosciences...couldn't ask the right questions.

Isn't that the truth.

I'll stay away from any answers to what the answers are for any 'right questions', because there is a larger issue here.  Most people can't imagine the world changing at all.

Ma'at was a fundamental concept in ancient Egyptian belief, representing truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Ma'at was believed to be the cosmic force that ensured the universe operated harmoniously, including the continuity of life, the cycles of nature (like the flooding of the Nile), and the proper functioning of society.

The cycle of the Nile was like a giant water clock that changed with the seasons.  It defined the concept of Ma'at which we can assume for the Egyptians cemented their belief in an unchanging but cyclical world.  For other ancient people the change of seasons generated belief in cycles.  In modern times we are comfortable with 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' contradiction.  We take it as great wisdom.  It is so fucking profound we do not even have a Venn diagram for it.  We are committed to the belief that what goes down must come up.

The idea that "life has 'always been this way' and always will be" is a common cognitive framework.  It influences how individuals think about history, social change, and even their own futures.  We are anchored in the present moment. It takes a deliberate effort to imagine how 'things were' or how they could be. The present moment feels incredibly solid and enduring.

QuoteI think it relates to the degradation of the American education system.

Or total lack thereof.  I say that in an absolute way because thinking critically is something you do or you don't.

America fears education, specifically critical thinking.  Critical thinking is a problem for power.  People on top of exploitation pyramids know that critical thinking is a direct threat to their comfortable perch.

Concentrating on test results, and only teaching by rote ensures that critical thinking skills do not develop.  An educated populace equipped with sharp analytical skills (good critical thinking) will chew their propaganda before they swallow it down,  Power can't have that.  People might even write their own propaganda and try and change the narrative.

The issue is less what we might argue is under the ground, and more about any desire to talk about it at all.


* critical thinking (for the uninformed) is nothing more than the activity of trying to find out if what you read and hear is true or not.  You question the facts thrown at you.  You try and read between the lines.  You go down the rabbit hole with an open mind.  It is not magic, it is a learned skill, and a sad fact of the human condition is that critical thinking must be taught.  It is not a natural idea like getting pagan about the changing of seasons.  And you have to know that some people lie all the time and have no interest in telling truth.  A lack of interest that seems to be proportional to an individuals material condition.