Thread:Proxima Centauri/@comment-26279493-20150524071704/@comment-26279493-20150524181853

Surely. Deforestation, and land use are very serious topics. They are both going to be increasingly important as accumulated environmental damage and increasing population have their cumulative effects.

I'm just trying to point out another one of the areas where our thinking has been manipulated. There are very good reasons to maintain natural forests. There are also very good reasons to believe our thinking has been manipulated. Remember Asimov's premise that the way to manipulate thinking is to manipulate information? Media manipulation is serious and ongoing. So is scientific manipulation. Grants can direct study, and study can generate publication. Just follow the money. Who's giving the grants? What do they want to know, or want us to know? For that matter, the harder question is what do they not want us to know?

It's just that the attack on silvaculture has been extreme, and has reduced forest production, and forest health tremendously. It's become an emotionally charged political movement. It's also become an important deflection. Forest products are being replaced by petroleum products, and silvaculture's potential contribution to sustainability is ignored. We feel as if we've done our part, by forcing someone else to change their practices, yet we ignore our own part in the overall problem.