States of Fear: Science or Politics?
List Price:
Our Price: $12.22
You Save: $7.73 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Michael CrichtonAudio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number of pages: 1
Studio: Independent Institute
DVD Reviews of States of Fear: Science or Politics?
DVD Review: michael crichton at his best
Summary: 5 Stars
every thinking person should view this dvd . crichton makes it crystal clear that there is a big difference between science and emotional " concern for the environment " . crichton's recent death is tragedy since his message needs to be heard ....perhaps this dvd will be the medium for making this happen ...DVD Review: Voices of Reason
Summary: 5 Stars
This DVD contains the viewpoints of several men and women of high scientific stature. No Chicken Littles included. They present their facts and their opinions formed from those facts both rationally and with occasional humor. The presentation is both entertaining and informative. These people are as concerned about the planet as are others, but they do not go off half-cocked wanting to use dictatorial powers to enforce programs based upon faulty research or unreasonable interpretations of the research of others. Once you view this DVD, you will want to lend it to friends. It cuts the fear and panic from the debate.DVD Review: Makes Al Gore look like a blithering idiot
Summary: 5 Stars
No matter what the previous reviewer said, this DVD provides a sane discussion of an issue thats become a religious crusade when it should be a reasoned debate.DVD Review: States of Rhetoric
Summary: 2 Stars
This largely rhetorical and anecdotal talk has one rather basic premise: "we live in a complex world." Beyond that, the overall import seems to be: "Don't worry. Be happy." Whereas most people, including scientists are governed by their subjective fears, the people of the Independent Institute are objective rationalists whose ideas will be vindicated in the long run, just like other outcast scientists of the past.
So, in case you haven't heard, the media (and politicians) thrive off a climate of fear, and a number of so-called crises--most notably Y2K, Chernobyl, Anthrax, poisoning by pesticides, and the "Population Bomb"--did not exactly live up to the hype. Therefore, says Crichton and the others featured here, let's not get so worked up. If we rush off in a panic and start monkeying with complex systems in order to "fix" them there's a good chance we'll just make things worse (as happened in Yellowstone Park). Things don't unfold in a linear fashion, so who really knows what will happen in the long run?
What gets left out of the discussion, however, is the fact that humans are already monkeying with complex systems--and changing those systems dramatically. Historically speaking, you can bet there were people in Sumeria, Rome, Greenland, and on Eastern Island saying, "Hey relax. We've been here for hundreds of years and nothing's gone wrong." Meanwhile, the environment did collapse and starvation and suffering set in on a massive scale.
Crichton characterizes America's Plains Indians as a people who treated their environment aggressively--hunting certain animals to the point of extinction and periodically burning the forests. True enough. I suppose it follows then that the non-Indians who slaughtered all the buffalo in a matter of decades, cut down nearly all the old-growth forests, set up the Peabody Coal Mine which depleted the ocean of fresh water beneath the Arizona desert, erected the Hoover dam which dried up the Colorado River, and who made every drop of water in every lake, river, or stream in this country undrinkable unless treated--I suppose these people are just acting more or less like those would-be consumeristic Native Americans?
Should environmentalists proceed with caution? Of course. Have most environmental scientists already learned this lesson? Undoubtedly. Which is why environmental scientists everywhere are saying: "We'd better slow down and proceed with caution!" The lesson we seem not to have learned is that a laizze-fare attitude toward environmental misuse leads inexorably to collapse. Only by focusing on easy targets like Y2K can Crichton have his way. Meanwhile, in the name of "scientific objectivity" he and the others conveniently ignore the real issues of habitat and species loss, over-fishing, soil depletion, the fact that population continues to rise, and that the world simply cannot sustain industrialization on a massive scale and at the present rate.
There are, of course, those issues that lie somewhere in the middle: things like global warming, global dimming, genetically modified organism, and peak oil. Is it possible some of these may prove to be red herrings? Certainly. No evidence is presented in these lectures, however, for regarding them as such. Instead the reasoning seems to be, since some disasters never pan out, why worry about these others? Plus, a handful of people are already working on them (in spite of tremendous opposition by the oil and automotive industries and their subsidiary--the U.S. Government).
One thing Crichton and the others are right about: the environment will surely take care of itself. Mass extinctions have happened before and will undoubtedly happen again. So maybe we should just let nature take its course. Who knows, driving a Hummer might be good for a complex environment in some round about way. And if we dammed up the Grand Canyon we could all water ski on the lake. And species survive by being aggressive, rapacious, and short-sighted. And the market is dynamic and inventive; it will sort things out in a timely manner. And on-going war and loss of civil liberties is not too high a price to pay for oil. And if the American Way pushes greater numbers of people into poverty around the McWorld, well I'm not one of the unlucky ones, and there are plenty of entertaining things to do to take my mind of it. And it's just a bunch of leftwing political propaganda anyways, according to O'Reily.
So I guess I'll pick up a good novel by a best-selling author, head for the beach, and enjoy the red tide. (I'd take that Jared Diamond tome, "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," but its like frickin' a gazillion pages long, and the cover looks kinda depressing.)
Meanwhile, we're No. 1, and all is well.
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Sesame Street - The Best of ElmoRelease date: 2001-10-30; DVD
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Cesar Millan's Mastering Leadership - Volumes 1-3Release date: 2008-09-16; DVD
Best price: $30.51
Price in other shops:
Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word CaperLeap Frog; Release date: 2004-11-16; DVD
Best price: $8.24
Price in other shops:
![Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Digital-Video-Essentials-HD-Basics-Blu-ray-B000V6LST0-X.jpg)
Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics [Blu-ray]Dvd International; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $11.77
Price in other shops:
Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook FactoryLeap Frog; Release date: 2005-09-20; DVD
Best price: $5.81
Price in other shops:
Phil Mickelson: Secrets of the Short GameParamount; Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $30.11
Price in other shops:
Leap Frog - Talking Words FactoryLeap Frog; Release date: 2003-12-09; DVD
Best price: $6.11
Price in other shops:
The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD)New Wave Enviro; Release date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
Sesame Street - Elmo's Potty TimeWELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2006-08-22; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Leap Frog - Letter FactoryLeap Frog; Release date: 2003-12-09; DVD
Best price: $6.53
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
A Case of Needby Michael Crichton
Signet; Published: 2003-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
Nextby Michael Crichton
HarperCollins; Published: 2006-11-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.29
Price in other shops:
Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming (Vintage)by Bjorn Lomborg
Vintage; Published: 2008-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
The Great Global Warming Swindle (DVD)DVD
Best price: $19.95
Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poorby Roy Spencer
Encounter Books; Published: 2008-03-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.97
Price in other shops:
The Great Global Warming Swindle (DVD)Release date: 2007-07-23; DVD
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops:
Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Changeby Jonah Goldberg
Broadway; Published: 2009-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops:
Travelsby Michael Crichton
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2002-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.66
Price in other shops:
ABC News 20/ 20 Michael CrichtonRelease date: 2007-11-15; DVD
Best price: $9.95
State of Fearby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops: