The Right to Question

I am sure that some people reading this blog will wonder if I am a little crazy perhaps. Maybe a bit too worried about abstract things. For me, writing these posts is an opportunity to explore a lot of questions that I have. After 30 years of being focused mainly on art with little interest in science, I took 4 semesters of chemistry as a prerequisite for graduate school. Coming to chemistry so late in life may have given me a unique perspective. I was able to see it as a way of understanding the world, like a religion. I also found that when someone forwarded me an email about the health hazards of plastic water bottles, I could actually research it to find out if the claims in the email were true (they were).

Understanding chemistry is empowering, because I can read books and articles about the environment and have a deeper understanding. Many of the people in the government making decisions about science and the regulation of industries using chemicals know less about chemistry than I do! And from the kind of decisions I am seeing made, I certainly feel that I have a right to question them. I invite everyone to question whether something is safe just because the government says it is. The regulatory agencies are packed with political appointees who care more about appeasing US industries than the health of the US people.

My readers also have every right to question my assertions. This is a forum for expressing my thoughts and letting them sit here, giving people time to consider them and come to their own conclusions.