Neil deGrasse Tyson has a great question...

[The Traveler]

36. But this is why Congress is inept when dealing with science and technology related issues

After 40 years (yep ... count 'em) our legislative body has been unable to mount any effective or innovative change in policy relevant to energy production or climate change or a whole range of other issues.

The legal mind is as specialized as the scientific mind. It is trained in different problem solving methods. It is trained to select priorities quite differently. 40 years down the line ... Congress still has no clue as to what is happening in the biosphere, and I'm not just talking about climate change. It's ineptitude is staggering, but not really surprising ... there is nothing in legal or business training that prepares the mind to think effectively in those problem domains. I've talked to several lawyers over the years about exponential functions and how that relates to population growth, resource consumption, pollution, etc. ... not a one of them ever absorbed it. And that frightens me.

So sure ... I get your point about the minutiae of legislation. And that's important. But the over specialization of elected representatives has resulted in complete incompetence at dealing with science and technology policy. You can get all the minutiae right but if you miss the big picture, it doesn't matter. And our legislators don't get the big picture. We are going to be paying a very heavy price for that failure from here on out, and indeed already have been.

Trav