Second Blog Now Active!

Welcome!  This is my second blog, named Sam Katt's Blog #2.  I've opened this blog in order to practice blog-making and use.

We all want to seek meaning in life.  This blog is my attempt to find meaning by sharing thoughts and insights that others might find useful.  My interests are primarily History and Art.  My college degrees are in Humanities.  Humanities (as a scholastic field - with the capital "H") integrates various topics, such as history, art , literature, science, and philosophy.  In Humanities, the arts, for example, are just as important as politics and war.  As an example, consider the importance of music (both classical and popular) during World War II.   Consider what effect that music has had on who you are today?

My personal interest is to locate the importance of the past insofar as it affects who I am today.  I'm not concerned with the scholastic scientific approach to history (as taught in many colleges today).  I'm concerned with observing the findings of those historians and others in relation to the effect that history and other topics have on me today.  I have reached as far back into the past as I can.  For example, the geology and geography of the Bay Area was formed five million years ago.  How is that relevant to who I am today?   What happened in 200 BC China that affects all of us in the Bay Area today?  Why was Portugal's Henry the Navigator important in California history, even though he died before Columbus sailed in 1492?  These are the kinds of questions that interest me, and I hope that they will interest you, too.

I'm saddened by the persistent political approach to so many topics.  Global Warming, or it's variant names (such as Climate Change), is a good example.  Some politicians cite Global Warming as the most important threat to our nation, and thus they lobby to fight Global Warming or Climate Change.  Our political approach to Climate Change focuses less on the Earth's natural cycle of climate change and more on the specific political benefits for special interests, such as the monetary function of California's Smog Check program for automobiles.  I'm all for reducing pollution, such as throwing garbage into the ocean, including small plastic bits that fish unwittingly eat, causing them physical harm.  I'm also for increasing the energy efficiency of automobiles and other products.  But politicians seem to cherry-pick their causes in order to maintain their political and monetary status.  For example, I respect the reduction of pollution in California, but if Global Warming is to be overcome by reducing pollution, then shouldn't we be more concerned with world-wide pollution instead of just cleaning the air here?