Shit my Psych teacher does! —Episode 06

[Note: Because of recent events, the author of this article has decided that a title change was in order.]

So, last time on Shit my Psych teacher does! [previously known as Shit my Psych teacher says!], we looked into the accuracy of the blatant hate speech my Psych teacher spouts in class and found the evidence (or, rather, lack thereof) quite enlightening.

Today, as mentioned previously, we are going to discuss environmental issues. My Psych teacher also seemed to have the same idea in mind; her stance on the environment came into sharp focus during today’s lecture. And, as expected, it wasn’t good.

Ah, but, I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Allow me to detail exactly what happened in today’s class before I begin refuting her clearly fallacious statements.

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First, some background information: At our school, we have a very… enthusiastic AP Environmental Science teacher who is a very (very, very, very, very) staunch environmentalist. There are two parking spaces set aside for hybrid cars in our school parking lot. Around a week ago, our school principal accidentally parked in one of those with her non-hybrid car. Needless to say, our APES teacher was not pleased. She not only confronted the principal about the fact but also wrote a ticket requesting the donation of $50 to some environmental cause or whatnot.

Now, today, our Psych teacher came in really smug and happy because, apparently, she got up especially early in order to park in the hybrid car parking space. [Edit: And, according to her, it was her “enormous Jeep that puffs out black smoke” that she parked in the alternative-fuel parking spot too. Thanks, Jamie, for the addition.] All just to snub our APES teacher.

You think that’s childish? Wait until you hear the rest.

So, our Psych teacher purposely told the Dean of Science about where she parked so that the Dean will tell the APES teacher. In addition, she also stated that she was “collecting” plastic bottles in order to mess with the APES teacher when she is confronted.

Yeah, I know. What is she? Five?

Her reason for doing this? The parking spaces are a form of discrimination. Only rich people can afford hybrid cars, so they’re discriminating against the poor. (Yeah, I don’t know who “they” are, either.)

That reason is just so stupid that I don’t even want to refute it. It’s self-refuting!

• First, these are two parking spaces, in a parking lot with around seventy or so spaces. I am fairly certain there are places for all the teachers to be able to park.
• Second, hybrid cars save on money because they use less gas. It’s pretty much a win-win situation—save money AND save the environment! What’s the stigma against rewarding people for doing a good deed? It also encourages more people to buy more hybrid cars—win-win!
• Third, she later mentioned that she recently bought an airplane (showed us a picture, even!) which was why she could not afford a hybrid car. Save the environment? Nope! I’m going to give a finger to everything environmentally friendly and waste money on unnecessary and wasteful forms of transportation! Um. Okay. Even if this is a joke, it’s a very bad one.

She recounted her dastardly deed very proudly in both her Psychology and her Statistics classes (and her Stats class had a test, even—I would know, I was taking it!). After she finished recounting it in Stats, she purposely threw a piece of paper away in the regular trash can.

You know, it would just take her one more second to walk over to the recycle bin and throw it away in there, but no. She has decided to be an immature kindergartner and act as if she’s so “cool.”

Here’s a secret, guys: Ruining the environment is not something you should be proud of.

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Now, one of the things I take most offense to is my Psych teacher’s justifications for her actions. Her most commonly used one is that she owns a plot of land up in Northern California where she plants one tree per year. Apparently, this fact allows her to use as much paper as she wants in class.

I’m sensing a logical fallacy here. (A non sequitur.)

1. A tree takes a long, long time to grow to be a usable resource.
2. A single tree =/= the amount of paper that is used in class. It just doesn’t.

She also said in one of the other classes she teaches that she recycles and reuses materials, which should be enough to save the environment.

Despite how big her head is, her brain clearly does not benefit from it.

Recycling and reusing materials is NOT going to be enough to protect our environment. We also need to REDUCE the amount of materials and energy we use and STABILIZE our population.

Think of it this way: Your family owns a cow. You take really good care of it, feeding, brushing, and grooming it to the best of your ability. However, eventually, the cow will die. You might be able to keep it alive longer with your careful attention, but you can’t keep it alive indefinitely.

The same can be said for our planet. Recycling and reusing materials might help our environment sustain itself longer, but the environment will still eventually deteriorate.

Another major problem is energy. There’s a thing called energy quality—basically, the ability of energy to do useful work. And, although energy is never gained or lost, every time energy is used, the energy quality ALWAYS decreases. In other words, once energy is used, it essentially becomes useless.

Scary, huh? Well, if you aren’t scared yet, here’s an example.

Only 6% of the gas we put into our cars actually contribute to moving it. The other 94% are wasted and released into the air. All that wasted energy is what causes the car engine to heat up. And, we have to install coolants in our engines to make sure it doesn’t overheat from all that energy we’re wasting in the first place. Ironic, huh? (In other words, as gas prices in California are currently around $4.00 per gallon, you are really using only $0.24 of that $4.00 to power your car. Wow, what a rip-off.)

Thus, we need to be really careful with how we use our energy, or else, in the future, the only thing we can rely on is nuclear energy, which, although infinite, is also fairly dangerous.

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As mentioned in the last post, my Psych teacher also does not believe in global warming or climate change. She states that, “All statisticians know that the earth undergoes climate fluctuations and that today’s climate change is only one of those.”

While she is correct about the climate fluctuations, today’s climate change is NOT due to natural causes but, rather, due to human activity. And, the climate fluctuations in recent years are certainly NOT normal; they are far higher or lower than in previous centuries (and millennia).

These irregular temperature changes actually bring me to my next point. Unlike what my Psych teacher claims (that they renamed “global warming” to “climate change” because of dissenters stating that “global warming” is falsified and exaggerated), the word “climate change” actually encompasses the current issue more than “global warming” does.

Why? Because the world is not just heating up. It’s also cooling down. Different parts of the world are experiencing different changes in their climate—hot places are getting hotter, reaching record heights, while cold places are getting colder, reaching record lows. These changes are not indicators of a next ice age, guys! They’re indications that the next generation will probably suffer through some massive heat-waves.

The fact is: we are emitting enormous amounts of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide into the troposphere through burning fossil fuels and deforestation. These emissions are affecting our atmosphere in a detrimental way.

And, there’s also the problem involving our ozone layer, which has nothing to do with climate change and is a whole other can of decaying worms. But, I won’t get into that now.

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Environmental Science is not just an outlet for tree-huggers to convince people not to cut down trees—it’s an actual science, and the effects that we humans have on the environment certainly should not be taken lightly.

I’m not saying to go out and buy a hybrid car or anything. I’m saying to try to decrease the amount of waste you yourself produces. Just do the things you can do. As long as you try, something will come out of it, even if it’s just turning off the light every time you leave the room, turning off the water while brushing your teeth, or even making your shower times a few minutes shorter.

Small things add up! And, just remember: individuals matter!

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Somehow, midway through, this turned into more of a public service announcement. But, regardless, thanks for reading to the end and join me again next time for more Shit my Psych teacher does!