[Rockhounds] Question

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

John,

If it is not grown, it must be mined. Plants are at the bottom of the 
food chain; plants do their own mining. People need knowledge of 
minerals, and technology, to survive, given our number on planet earth. 
Knowledge needs to be shared to survive; knowledge makes technology 
possible. Mineralogy and geology are the key sciences; rockhounding is 
the associated hobby. We help the future by actively supporting 
rockhounding.

Our planet needs to support an ever growing human population, with an 
improving standard of life, without significantly damaging the total 
environment (locally or globally). We need to be thinking about how to 
expand beyond our planet (Earth First, mine the other planets later). 
We mostly have the technology "off the shelf".

Think globally, act locally. Resist movements that prevent making life 
better for everyone.

Kreigh




On Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008, at 03:48 America/Detroit, jbacko wrote:

> 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
>
> -- 
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