[Rockhounds] Question

[jbacko]

Kreigh Tomaszewski wrote:
> If the movement of the times is in a negative direction it should be 
> resisted. Not all change is for the best.
>
> Some things don't change, like the need to make the public more aware 
> of the connection between minerals and their every-day life; if it 
> isn't grown, it must be mined. If we don't educate, we won't be able 
> to continue to collect (or mine!).
>
> Science needs to be passed on.
>
> Rockhounds need to help control the change of tastes.
>
> Kreigh
>
Well, what are these "negative" directions that should be resisted? Are 
they the lack of places to go? Are they the lack of familiarity on the 
part of Everyman with where things come from? Are they lacunae in 
information about people. places. and things related to the hobby, or 
Geology in general? Are they the tendencies of more and more to " look 
on and enjoy" but not to participate?  Especially when it come to doing 
any real work for a club or an organization?

Many of the chairs of education in clubs go unfilled.  Is it because of 
a lack of interest or a lack of time? Or a feeling of incompetence to do 
the job? Why is it that a relatively small group of people seem to be 
always into the running of clubs while the majority of members never 
seem to get involved?

Has it always been this way?

Why is it that "Ecology" has been generally presented in education as 
the sum of the biota of an area and not the sum of the area itself? Why 
is it that  "endangered species" are often the controlling factors of 
all uses of an area, rather than those which might disrupt the 
particular animals involved? Why is it that if one group gets to use an 
area, all groups feel that they should be entitled to the same or better 
privilege? And so the preservationists set aside areas that only a very 
few ever get to use for any reason? (Until it burns down of course).

I would venture the hypothesis that the general public has never been 
interested in rocks and minerals per se, except in that they are objects 
of jewelry or some such thing. The average person since the Industrial 
Revolution has never much cared where his utensils come from unless he 
happens to be a miner or a relative of one. Oil and plastics are perhaps 
an up-to-date exception, but only because they are so prominent in his 
budget right now.

The same could be said for astronomy and actually seeing the night sky 
when  most of the people of this planet are urbanites; the last century  
was the first time in the history of humanity that four or more 
generations were raised with the presence of  enough light at night to 
block out the sky. But the average person didn't really care; he enjoyed 
the extra light, and still does.

The same could be said about farming and agronomy and the procuring of 
food and water and disposal of waste. Most people don't know or care how 
the food got to the supermarket or how the water got to the tap, only 
that it is there, and that the commode properly flushes all the  time. 
Everything else is a matter of paying the bills and calling the plumber 
if need be.

Everyman is not a scientist and has no intention of becoming one. 
Science is good only so far as it engenders technology which really is 
useful as it presents an abundance of toys and conveniences to play 
with. But the whys and wherefores are things to be endured in a few 
lectures and field trips, quickly forgotten...like algebra and plane 
geometry. Except for the feelings engendered when some place or animal 
or other is purported to be in danger; then there is a call for action. 
Which probably will be answered in one way of other without too much 
thought involved, except perhaps by the "experts" who are usually 
challenged only by the general ignorance of their audience.

It is this ignorance which any small group of people who want to do 
things face.  Rockhounds are no exception.  Whenever a question comes 
up,  the general public will rely on the testimony of experts to decide 
an issue.  There is little grounding among the people about how the 
world  and nature really works by experience,  and about their natural 
place in them.  Indeed the trend seems to be to label Man as the enemy 
of nature and so alien to it all, rather than consider him to be just 
another species that nature will handle in the way that nature has 
always handled species. At least is seems so in this country.

If I read it correctly, the fastest growing and most popular outdoor 
"hobby" now among people who have leisure time is bird-watching. It 
combines the modern idea of look-but-not-touch and the idea of 
participation in "ecology" and "conservation" and travel. And it has 
proven to be of great economic benefit as many Chambers of Commerce will 
attest.  But bird-watchers are anything but scientists for the most 
part.  Most that I know are stalkers after completion, like stamp 
collectors, or social people having a good time; they care about 
habitats as places that hold their find, not as places that are part of 
the whole world and all its exigencies. They are part of "multi-use" 
that is actively allowed because they do not disrupt the area they 
tread, most of the time anyway.

Are rockhounds to become like bird-watchers? Compiling a life list of 
rocks and minerals seen? Certainly it would be a lot easier, wouldn't it?

It is not by educating kids and others to geology by showing them a few 
samples. It is not by telling the general public that they should know 
where aluminum and iron and coal come from, and tolerate those of us who 
want to play among the shovels and dump-trucks in search of things that 
do not grow (organically).

Those are nice things to do but they will not convince anyone not to 
close off an area to digging. They will not engender support for 
recreational mineral collecting. Rather, I think, we should insist in 
the end on our traditional rights to pursue our hobby the same as any 
other group pursues theirs, Which means following the common sense rules 
and regulations which have governed us in the past (Remember Johnny 
Horizon?). Which means showing the public what it wants to see in shows. 
Like beads and dinosaurs. Like jewelry and pretty things. And yes, also 
some rocks and minerals along the way. Which means becoming active in 
clubs and federations and doing some work, rather than depending on the 
other guy to do it. Which means writing letters and telling Congress and 
others, sometimes in the face of stiff opposition, that we don't really 
mean any harm, and have an active interest in doing what we do, just 
like everybody else.

Which means convincing people that the ATV is a greater threat to the 
"ecology" than rockhounding ever could be. Which means...well you get 
the picture.


 
john