What insect die-off tells us
The insects are truly the canaries in the contemporary coalmine. The article Inside the great insect die-off (12 January) perfectly encapsulates the dilemma and the tragedy that confronts us all. The tragedy is that we inhabit a world of which, it seems, we know even less than of the galaxies in which we spin. We are destroying it, but because of our ignorance of what surrounds and supports us, we have no conception of what awaits us. This blindness stems from the monumental hubris of Homo sapiens, coupled with the assumption of relentless progress and of the natural world as a mere contributor to that progress. The dilemma is between relying on technological fixes and a revolutionary inversion of the idea of progress.
What are the odds on the latter? And who is in favour of the former?
Neil Blackshaw
Barbizon, France
• Your recent article about insects included an anecdotal comment about how, several decades ago, a drive in the English countryside would result in a car front being splattered with hundreds of dead insects after a few hours. But this doesn’t happen nowadays. I also remember, back in the 50s how some cars even had small wing-shaped plastic deflectors on the front of the bonnet. These deflectors created a slipstream to deflect the insects from the windscreen. Very effective then, but not required nowadays.
John Smuts
Camp Hill, Queensland, Australia
Bilingual nations can work
It was a shock to see the front-page headline: Cameroon’s conflict of tongues (12 January). We lived in Cameroon during the 70s, based in Buea in the anglophone section but working together with a francophone college in Douala. I was immensely impressed at the efforts made to integrate the two systems – not only a question of language but also of administration. This was done very successfully by always appointing the two traditions in tandem: if the préfet was a francophone, the deputy would be anglophone and vice versa. This system worked well, although it was sometimes hard for an official banished to a society speaking the other language.
I became very aware of this when finding myself alone in a remote francophone area. Having failed to meet my transport connection, I went rather nervously to the local police station for help. There, to my surprise, I found an anglophone sergeant who was happy to talk English with me; he could not have been more helpful and did all the telephoning necessary to get me organised, as well as supplying me with tea, and talk.
At that time we saw it as a peaceful, stable country looking forward. The horrors of Boko Haram and the demagogic ideas of president Paul Biya were in the future.
Pat Stapleton
Beaumont du Ventoux, France
We can account for biases
Studies showing the unconscious biases in human behaviour are important. For example, as psychologist John Bargh has shown (Think you are free? Then think again, 5 January), racial stereotyping can occur unconsciously even when we try to avoid it.
We should, however, not rush to conclusions regarding free choice. Studies in supermarkets show that when French music is playing, most customers choose French over German wine and vice versa when German music is playing. Knowing this information, when buying wine I might think twice when hearing music played and base my choice on the quality of the wine or other relevant details. Once these unconscious forces are brought to our attention, methods can be devised to counteract them. We need not be prisoners of unconscious forces.
Rob Neurath
Ashfield, NSW, Australia
Briefly
• Oliver Burkeman’s reminder in What I’m really thinking (5 January) that it’s quite possible to get addicted to stuff that seems edifying and intellectual and to smugly consider yourself immune to mindless entertainment got me thinking: is that a possible description of me and many other Guardian readers and contributors? Then I thought, surely not: we are all active in our local, national and global worlds, aren’t we? We don’t just read the Guardian; we are inspired by it.
Stewart Sweeney
Adelaide, South Australia
• Will Hutton’s warning about the current regimes in Poland and Hungary (12 January) is bleak indeed. He mentions Poland “asserting Christian values” and Hungary “rooting out anti-Christian values”. Whatever quasi-Christian values they claim to promote, putting up barriers against people and lining oligarchal pockets are not Christian values.
Martin Jewitt
Folkestone, UK
• Fire and Fury will probably go unnoticed in the White House (12 January). Donald Trump doesn’t read books and with his short attention span is unlikely to start now. His inner circle won’t mention it, not wanting him throwing a tantrum. If he should see the cover he’ll probably be impressed: the words Fire and Fury and a strong flattering photograph could see him cutting it out, framing it and hanging it next to the mirror.
Rhys Winterburn
Perth, Western Australia
• Email letters for publication to weekly.letters@theguardian.com
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