How to Accept a Different Point of View?

As I look inside me I can see all my biases swirling around inside my head (metaphorically speaking). And in a world filled with human beings we fluctuate between rationality, pragmatism, love, pessimism, indifference, hatred and conflict for almost all aspects of our lives. So it is very important to at least listen to a different point of view. As the first reaction is generally indifference or complete disdain.

As I was browsing through news one of the topic that comes up frequently is Climate Change. I will not go into the politics of the issue or try to persuade anyone to accept or deny the premise or theory or fact or rumor or whatever someone considers it. My hands moved away from the remote and typed "Climate Change" on YouTube search and then for some reasons (maybe I was thinking about scientists) I added Carl Sagan to the search. 

And behold, there was a keynote speech of Carl Sagan before the 5th Annual Emerging Issues Forum at North Carolina State University from 1990. Although from his comments it is quite obvious he was a supported an Earth with lesser emission of green house gases. However it was the manner in which he used a comparison with our nearest planetary neighborhood planet of Venus that made this speech a must listen. 

He points out that Venus is quite comparable to Earth in terms of size, mass and density yet one particular difference eliminates any chance of having an form of life. He adds that the surface of Venus is 900 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt tin or lead and hotter than the hottest household oven.  And it is not because Venus is closer to the sun. The clouds of Venus are in fact brighter than Earth's clouds so they reflect most of the sunlight back into the space so it ought to be cooler!

So why is Venus at 900 degrees! As Carl Sagan explains further that it's "because of the green house effect". The massive atmosphere is made mostly of Carbon Dioxide and a large amount of it can trap the heat and warm a planet.

That's a powerful argument that having less of CO2 would be a good thing for us (in the most layman terms possible). I never looked at Global Warming or Climate Change from this perspective. And it change my perception of this phenomenon that's going so quietly yet so flagrant at the same time. 

What I learned?

Besides the perspective on Global Warming I would point the fact that Carl Sagan broke something complicated into something so relatable. So next time you hear something "different" just give it a listen and perhaps a seemingly alien point of view is true if researched. Don't let the innate biases wear you down and prevent you from opening up yourself again and again. As that's what makes us human - to keep learning from everything (mistakes included) and everyone around us.

Here is another Carl Sagan's point of view on Earth. 

#climatechange #globalwarming #carlsagan #emergingissues #humanbeing #learning