This extended throughout the Q&A period, when a number of people asked him, in vain, to name something positive they or the government could do, some tiny example of something that had gone right, or could. It became, for me, a sad act.
The man is just too curmudgeon to be helpful at this point, just forget about him already.
I think that’d be a very costly mistake. But I appreciate your comment, because I had a hard time putting my reaction into words initially. It’s a complex story and he’s a complex person. I think very few people have walked the paths he’s walked.
From the article it seems clear that he has produced a tremendous amount of useful work (e.g., books) over a highly productive career. Additionally, I think his story serves as a very valuable cautionary tale for other (scientific) environmentalists. The risk of burnout (in a world that largely doesn’t care) is very real. And we need collaboration. As much as scientists are needed, so too do we need informed people who are comfortable wading into politics, etc.
Maybe, in his 80s, Vaclav is currently too dispirited to be a useful speaker for the movement. But “just forget about him already”? Heavens no. Learn from him. He has done so much important, practically thankless, work. He needs people to take the baton from him and keep moving it forward
What is the cost here, really? I’m not saying to toss his books in the fire, by all means more people should read them. I’m talking about the man, not his works. Just leave the man writing his books and stop trying to get his opinions on Greenpeace, anthropology, politics or “wokeness”.
The man is just too curmudgeon to be helpful at this point, just forget about him already.
I think that’d be a very costly mistake. But I appreciate your comment, because I had a hard time putting my reaction into words initially. It’s a complex story and he’s a complex person. I think very few people have walked the paths he’s walked.
From the article it seems clear that he has produced a tremendous amount of useful work (e.g., books) over a highly productive career. Additionally, I think his story serves as a very valuable cautionary tale for other (scientific) environmentalists. The risk of burnout (in a world that largely doesn’t care) is very real. And we need collaboration. As much as scientists are needed, so too do we need informed people who are comfortable wading into politics, etc.
Maybe, in his 80s, Vaclav is currently too dispirited to be a useful speaker for the movement. But “just forget about him already”? Heavens no. Learn from him. He has done so much important, practically thankless, work. He needs people to take the baton from him and keep moving it forward
What is the cost here, really? I’m not saying to toss his books in the fire, by all means more people should read them. I’m talking about the man, not his works. Just leave the man writing his books and stop trying to get his opinions on Greenpeace, anthropology, politics or “wokeness”.