Detail matters, and exactness of thinking is essential
“Most men think indistinctly, and therefore cannot speak with exactness.” Samuel Johnson
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography refers to Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) as “arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history”. Johnson wouldn’t be happy with the current term “UAPs”. It’s incorrect, and shows a degree of blurred or foggy thinking in those who use this acronym. You can say UFO (unidentified flying object), UFOs (unidentified flying objects), or UAP (unidentified aerial - or anomalous - phenomena). But you can’t say UAPs because UAP already encompasses the plural. And, to be absolutely clear, this isn’t just a matter of grammar. What we’re objecting to here is much more important than that - something highly revealing of a deeper problem.
Detail matters - and even a punctuation mark can make a vital difference - illustrated by this popular meme
Thinking skills have always been wanting, falling way short of what’s needed to realise our full potential. Indeed, most people revel in arguing for their limitations - to one degree or another. These shackles, blocks, or restrictions provide the illusion of psychological “safety”, deterring honest adventure into the unknown or beyond. Thomas Edison’s words are as true today as ever: “Our schools are not teaching students to think. It is astonishing how many young people have difficulty in putting their brains definitely and systematically to work.” The extent of psychological avoidance - and how this messes up almost everything in life - is grossly underestimated.
William Shakespeare famously urged “Be just and fear not” and “This above all else: to thine own self be true”. In other words, don’t follow like sheep. Wanting to fit in, be liked or accepted, is definitely part of the problem with humanity as it currently is - an emerging intelligent species still stuck at the semi-primitive level of evolution. There’s safety in numbers, which quickly produces the scourge of normalisation. Add to this the social conditioning of “monkey do what monkey see” and the resulting sloppiness is a complex fuck-up.
The murky world of “ufology” is already messy enough. There’s anything but clarity. It’s easy to point the finger elsewhere and blame others, but there’s an urgent need to look within. The matter of stigma and taboo is one area that hinders progress. Prejudice doesn’t go away quickly - and it’s often merely superseded by something much the same. The UFO terminology was originally brought into usage by the US Air Force to move away from the common designation of “flying saucers”, which had assumptions tied in with little green men. Recently, US authorities wanted distance from the term UFOs - which had become linked with visiting aliens - preferring UAP. But now there’s common talk of “UAPs”, so what’s the difference between that and UFOs? It reeks of a shabby fudge.
A lack of preciseness causes numerous predicaments, mishaps, and catastrophes. It boils down to carelessness. People are content to settle for “That’ll do!”, rather than striving to be the best they can be - until they need the precision of a medical surgeon to save their life or that of a loved one, for example, at which point they suddenly sharpen their focus and want high-level capability. Mostly, excellence is seen as something to be disregarded or even sneered at, when it should be viewed as standard practice.
There are consequences for shoddy omissions. Something suffers. Thoughtlessness leads to negligence and ineptitude. In September 1999, NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter mission ended in disaster. The thruster software was written using pounds and feet by propulsion engineers at Lockheed Martin, but their counterparts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab were using kilograms and metres - not bothering to check that all of the measurements were converted to metric units, as per standard protocol. US$327.6 million was lost and a considerable amount of time wasted - yet botched human-error instances like this needn’t happen.
When leading proponents concerned with finding answers to the unidentified aerial - or anomalous - phenomena mystery start misusing the UAP acronym, erroneously morphing it into “UAPs”, it’s worryingly unprofessional. Such individuals are supposed to set exacting high standards. Slackness, once tolerated, breeds more slackness. Contradictions and hypocrisy never help - and poor behaviour doesn’t exactly make us look good if anyone is watching us from afar.
We made a short light-hearted film about “UAPeas” late last year, which is immediately below:
Written by Iain Scott, 22nd April 2023