Introducing myself, Dave Norton
Without apology, I am an arctophile, fascinated by everything about the Far North. On the issue of whether there is a science of the Arctic, vs. merely a science in the Arctic, I advocate the former. As a friend once observed, “ignorance of the Arctic is an infinite resource.” Indeed, misinformation about Alaska and Arctic regions of our planet seems to be spreading faster than we can keep pace from our thinly populated high latitudes. In the current climate of growing fervor and sharp polarizations over matters connected with global change (aka “global warming”) we in the Far North bear an especial responsibility for minding that the record stay straight, and that passions not distort objectivity.
Beyond arctophilia, my motivations are starkly simple. I seek to be as interesting as possible in whatever I talk or write about. Nothing pleases me more than to be considered spellbinding by students or people sharing a meal or a cup of coffee. And if judges were to hold up scorecards at the end of my dive into a subject, I hope they would actually be judging my ability to infect students with the capability to be interesting themselves—in effect judging my dive by the waves radiating outward from the point of entry on the surface of the pool.
Without apology, I am an arctophile, fascinated by everything about the Far North. On the issue of whether there is a science of the Arctic, vs. merely a science in the Arctic, I advocate the former. As a friend once observed, “ignorance of the Arctic is an infinite resource.” Indeed, misinformation about Alaska and Arctic regions of our planet seems to be spreading faster than we can keep pace from our thinly populated high latitudes. In the current climate of growing fervor and sharp polarizations over matters connected with global change (aka “global warming”) we in the Far North bear an especial responsibility for minding that the record stay straight, and that passions not distort objectivity.
Beyond arctophilia, my motivations are starkly simple. I seek to be as interesting as possible in whatever I talk or write about. Nothing pleases me more than to be considered spellbinding by students or people sharing a meal or a cup of coffee. And if judges were to hold up scorecards at the end of my dive into a subject, I hope they would actually be judging my ability to infect students with the capability to be interesting themselves—in effect judging my dive by the waves radiating outward from the point of entry on the surface of the pool.
2 comments:
Arctophile! What a great identity to claim! I am looking forward to getting to know you through this class.
This being my first trip to Fairbanks, I'm hoping to see some of the natural history of the area (vs city life). Hopefully, you can give me some pointers!
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