I was talking about anecdotal evidence tonight, such as you hear if you bring up global climate change in January in the northern climes: “Global Warming!? I don’t see any warming around here.” Likewise, I have heard that a ninety year old smoking grandmother meant that smoking was tied to longevity, that the surprise of a delivered meal on Christmas day meant god answers prayers, and the way you are treated in Morocco as you step from the bus is a reflection of all Moroccans.
One of our strongest gifts is one that sits uneasy on us: that of gathering and interpreting evidence. Eric Frank Russell’s story “Legwork” postulates an alien who hypnotizes everyone he meets, but the power of the investigative work done by the police in the story cannot be overestimated. The alien is seemingly invincible, but merely by everyday tedious police work, asking questions, and chasing down every lead, the alien is captured.
We think of ourselves as logical beings, who use our senses to collect information on the world, but more typically we employ the encoded shortcuts of culture, the knee-jerk reactions that mean we can act quickly without pondering the circumstances. This was a useful survival strategy at one time, likely. When we were on the savannah, having just walked out of the overhanging trees, it was not to our benefit to leisurely examine the rhino coming towards us.
Now that the rhinos are rapidly disappearing, however, we need to re-examine that fight or flight response. We are surrounded by the results of our neglect, toxic soil, water and air, a depleted biosphere, human-caused 
climatic shifts, and overpopulation, but none of these will kill us today. It is time, especially in the wake of the latest IPCC report, to take a longer look at the evidence, and realize that the weather outside has as much bearing on world temperature as grandmother’s age does on the health of her cigarette addiction.
