Okay, this is kind of a delicate subject. An interest that I have is ... well, I guess you could call it when things go wrong. I like to learn about how disasters happen. I need to stress that I do not enjoy it when lives are lost or people are injured. That part is, of course, horrible. I don't know numbers of disasters by death toll. I like to learn about disasters as a way to understand what happened and how we as a society, and me as myself could avoid them.
As for type, they're all intriguing. But I really like to know about more obscure situations, ones that people are less aware of. Like limnic eruptions - which are when really large, deep lakes have carbon dioxide and other gases at the bottom and something happens, like an earthquake or a landslide that releases those gases into the atmosphere. They spread out and can kill people, animals and plants. Crazy.
I think my interest started when I was a preschool teacher. At the beginning of the school year, I was trying to determine what the kids were interested in so we could start learning about something, anything (ahh, Reggio Emilio) and so I brought in some maps. One of them was of California, and while we were examining the map we came upon Lassan Volcanic National Park. The kids were interested in volcanoes, it turned out. So we spent the rest of the year learning about volcanoes. Sooo interesting.
It also might have something to do with the San Fransisco '89 earthquake that I was in at the age of seven. Kind of a lasting impression.
Anyway, it's a delicate subject. I think ignoring disasters is short-sighted. I don't take pleasure in them. I just want to know more.
No comments:
Post a Comment