A lot of people think global climate change is made up. That’s an argument for another site, let me just say that. But did you know that the idea that technology has been influencing weather goes back to the 1920s? That’s right. People have been mistrustful of electronics for about 100 years. Honestly, it probably goes back a lot further than that.
The world of 100 years ago
The early 20th century was a time of great tragedy and great hope. It also was a world that probably wouldn’t seem that different to us today. There was a great pandemic which science wasn’t completely able to tame. There was war overseas, and social unrest at home. And, technology was changing the lives of regular folks at a dizzying speed. If you were 65 years old in 1920, most places were only reachable by horse when you were a kid. Instant communication was only possible if you were face to face. In your lifetime, you’d seen the coming of railroads, of factories, of the telegraph and telephone, of electric lights and appliances, and finally of wireless broadcasting. It must have seemed mindboggling and a little scary.
We fear the things we don’t understand
Our friends at Gizmodo found an article from the legendary Hugo Gernsback addressing the myth that floods, earthquakes and all sorts of weather were due to radio waves. The article itself is a bit of a throwback, since it dates from 2016.
Man-made radio waves were pretty new back then and people have a tendency to blame new things for anything, I suppose. You can read the full article here; it’s kind of funny actually. Mr. Gernsback was right that radio broadcasting wasn’t changing the weather but it’s even funnier that he didn’t rule out the possibility that more powerful broadcasts could change the weather, improve crop yields, or even make people more healthy. Maybe he was hedging his bets.
Does it sound so ridiculous, really?
Today, the scientific community tells us that there isn’t any effect from radio waves broadcasting from a distance, not good and not bad. There are still some people who insist that cell phones could be rotting your brain but science can’t prove it at any rate, any more than they could ever prove that operating your phone on a plane would cause the plane to crash.
But still, we see people who distrust 5G, who think that modern science is used for mind control or for surveillance, and all sorts of other anti-science thoughts. I’m willing to say that I don’t know the truth about a lot of things. It’s going to take more research. I’m sure that in another 100 years, a lot of what we think today will seem ridiculous. On the other hand, a lot of the science from the 1920s still holds up. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what our grandchildren are laughing about in the future.
