Here in bucolic Sebastopol–and O’Reilly’s corporate headquarters in northern California, a rural-ish Sonoma County town about 60 miles north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge–city officials recently rejected an offer of free Wifi downtown due to the possible health risks from radio frequency signals. Needless to say this EMF tempest in a (virtual) teapot has got us in a twitter; I mean titter.
I know the rejection of free Wifi may sound wacky. But I’ve lived in the area long enough that I remember when Sebastopol banned Styrofoam, passed a tree ordinance which prevented the chopping down of heritage trees without public oversight, and limited the times when the leaf blower set could fire up their noisy, polluting machines. But these community decisions also required lengthy and often heated public meetings–along with the added benefit of bringing people together in a spirit of shared responsibility.
So here we are again. (And don’t get me wrong, when it comes to Wifi I like it free.) But education may be key. So for those who are interested–folks who may want to weigh in on the discussion going on in Sebastopol, CA about free Wifi–and in the spirit of open-hearted public discource I offer this round up of recent posts and news stories.
- Dale Dougherty’s Radar post: Hazards of Wifi
– Dan Jasper, whose company offered the free Wifi: Sebastopol voids Wi-Fi contract
– At odds over Wi-Fi effects, former colleagues fume, from the New York Times-owned Press Democrat (free registration may be required).
– Wireless disruption: Sebastopol officials reject offer of free Wi-Fi downtown due to health concerns; proponents say that’s ridiculous, also from the Press Democrat
– Sebastopol, Calif., Looks Gift Wi-Fi in Mouth, Declares Harm from Wi-Fi Net News
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Most blogging coverage of this issue seems to be focused on the immediate problem: why is it that people fear WiFi, considering that cell phones, FM radio, broadcast TV, and other similar "radiation" sources are of comparable power and, particularly in the case of radio/TV, have been around for decades.
I'm more concerned with the second-order problem: how do we get people to apply critical thinking skills?
It may well be that WiFi is turning my insides into goo. But I'd like some actual scientific evidence of that fact. An article in the Lancet. A special report by the Washington Post, chock full of interviews with credible sources saying, "yup, we're seeing lots more goo". A person, claiming to be sensitive to WiFi "radiation", not merely making the claim but showing an analysis of a Stanford prof's double-blind experiments on him or her demonstrating there is a causal relationship between WiFi signal intensity and symptoms.
What typically comes out of these debates -- and I can't say specifically for the Sebastopol case -- is mostly drivel. It's not just WiFi or municipal meetings, though (e.g., http://www.factcheck.org/specialreports/that_chain_e-mail_your_friend_sent_to.html)
Maybe XKCD put it best: http://www.xkcd.com/397/
But if we don't get people trained on and using critical thinking skills, so they can better filter the BS, we're in a heap of trouble.