How can we reconcile the variability of weather with that of climate?  How does our humanness restrict our thinking?   This question is most intriguing to try to answer, since it deals with the human issues of perception in relation to climate change and our own short life in the scope of this global change. This huge perception “stumbling block” could be argued to be the biggest issue facing immediate action towards policy making in favor of climate change mitigation. The book emphasizes this within the first chapter of the book, providing a human context for our understanding of weather changing from year-to-year and from generation to generation, as people comment on the milder winters occurring. However, the book briefly mentions that human perception can change in relation to how the CURRENT … Read entire article »

How did Mandela’s childhood and education impact his political philosophy? Mandela had a traditional Xhosa tribe upbringing in the context of his culture, but also found himself in many traditionally British education systems and with various non-Xhosa tribal members acting as guardian figures as he grew up. These diametrically opposed forms of education and upbringing helped Mandela to form the ideas he had about freedom, religion, fairness, and politics, he carried and upheld for the rest of his life. While reading Mandela’s own writing, I found his various personal traits and virtues to be a product of his tribes’ deep belief in these very same virtues. For example, Mandela describes various meetings with tribal leaders through his involvement with the ANC court hearings, which through vivid descriptions paint him as a humble … Read entire article »