I need to offer two apologies. First is for not posting more often. Every year around mid-June I seem to get very busy which cuts down on my blogging. For some reason I thought that might not happen this year but it has (definition of insanity here?). At the very least I’ll be quite busy through a conference in Charleston I’m returning from on July 20 and I imagine for at least a few weeks after that. My second apology is that I’m about to put up what may be one of the most pointless posts I’ve ever written. But I want to get something out which I could put together quickly, even though a chunk of it relates to my real job.
I recently received the conference proceedings for the “International Science Symposium on Combating Radionuclide Contamination in Agro-Soil Environment.” Yes, this is the kind of stuff I read for my real job. A friend of mine from USDA who I work with on a national radiological project attended (March 8-10 in Koriyama Japan) and sent the proceedings to me. This is absolutely fascinating stuff (this term will be repeated later). We have the world’s largest outdoor laboratory to assess the agricultural and environmental impacts of a large-scale radiological incident. The amount we’re going to learn from this, lessons we can apply in case of another incident, will be tremendous.
The proceedings, which include discussions of topics such as; the efficacy of recovery techniques such as potassium or phosphate fertilizer applications, feeding Prussian Blue to livestock; which crops are susceptible and resistant to radionuclide soil uptake; lessons learned from Chernobyl and their application to Japan, etc., is riveting. Seriously. And I’m just getting started reading it.
So I’m reading the first presentation and the thought literally crosses my mind, “This is absolutely fascinating.”
This is a real tragedy, with a massive Human cost. The death toll will likely approach 20,000. The economic losses will be in the hundreds of billions and won’t be able to be accurately assessed for decades. Displaced families, cultural damage and loss – I suppose I could throw in a hundred terms about what Japan and its citizens have suffered and continue to suffer. And I find it fascinating? I was more than a little appalled at my response.
I can’t help it. As I continue to read, it continues to be fascinating. Intellectually I know there have been massive losses and suffering. I can’t say I’ve never been exposed to this as I’ve assisted with disaster response before though for nothing approaching this scale. However for the most part my interest in the subject matter trumps my recognition of the devastation. And then I started thinking about history.
I find it fascinating too. Never mind that so much of it is about Human suffering. The end of the Roman Empire, the period in which I’m most interested, resulted in (I’m certain, despite some recent books seeking to minimize this) major societal upheaval, loss, death, lack of security, and so on. During the later Roman Empire the mere existence of the institution of slavery meant that for many people their entire lives consisted of a pitiful existence. Among the areas I find most interesting are heresy and its suppression and the Crusades. No suffering there, eh? (sarcasm mode)
But I don’t think of this, much. I know it went on though I can’t quantify it. I don’t give it all that much thought when I’m reading about the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent disaster (though it does encroach a bit more). I’m not a psychologist and can’t begin to explain it but I don’t think I’m alone in being able to read about and study Human events which were absolutely devastating for those involved where my foremost thought isn’t the Human impact but rather how interesting it is. I guess we wouldn’t want a world full of people walking around crying every time a tragic event crossed their minds. Even so, I find this troubling.
Don’t say you weren’t warned; I told you this post was pointless.