The Middle Ground Between Frick and Frack

For several years there has been a peculiar debate over Marcellus Shale drilling. So many opinions, intense opinions. Then, at an Allegheny College seminar April 2, 2012, a reporter recorded this exchange after one of the panelists lamented the lack of a "middle ground" in the discussion: "Lustgarten ..(a reporter)..agreed, noting that concern about the environmental impacts of Marcellus drilling has escalated into hyperbole and almost-hysteria — and he’s not sure why. “Any middle ground has been lost,” he said. “It’s dissolved into a false choice between frack and not frack, while attempts to educate the public has turned into panic.” "(Mary Spicer Meadville Tribune on Allegheny College conference)

The solution lies in the characterization of the conflict: This is not a "discussion." Indeed, how could one explain the press' reporting of the Dunkard Creek fish-kill, the radionuclide scare from Rolling Stone, the movie Gasland? It certainly is not a "discussion." The obvious answer is bias, a deep-seated judgment delivered before the evidence is in. Another is more pernicious: a visionary distortion, the belief that a certain outcome is desirable even if it is contradicted by facts or reality--a solution that exists only in the arrogant mind of its superior creator. As John Hanger wonderfully said, "Gas is compared implicitly to a mythical perfect alternative that none of us use." So the cure for cancer is likely in alternative medicine, education could be improved using the techniques of the Vulcans in "Star Trek," potency is improved by the powder made from a unicorn horn. A third is worse, these people do not have a good grasp on these topics and are unteachable--not because they are obdurate or enthusiastic but because they have no scientific or technical ability. They are out of their depth.

There is no "middle ground" for the bigot, the enthusiast or the stupid.

One cringes on hearing a politician use phrases like "Darwinism." The jury is in; these politicians, lawyers and other humanities graduates should accept that they are not qualified for any such topic. Most science students do not expect to understand quantum mechanics; these soft course students should abstain from commenting on science entirely.