December 3, 2016
Columbia University's Climate: A Visit to an Alternate Universe
The subway stop at 116th Street in Manhattan is for Columbia University. Is this subway stop a wormhole to an alternate universe, where people look like everyone else but are possessed by strange ideas and incomprehensible ways of thinking?
My journey to 116th Street was to attend a lecture titled "What Would it Mean to Understand Climate Change?" It is hard to understand the title of this lecture, and the official description of the lecture increases the confusion:
Efforts abound to "understand" climate change. But what kind of understanding is needed? Does "understanding" mean the same thing to concerned citizens as it does to scientists, humanities scholars, or policy makers? At this public event climate scientist Isaac Held, philosopher of science Philip Kitcher, and science journalist Jonathan Weiner will compare the work of understanding undertaken by different communities engaged with climate change, and address the question...(Read Full Article)