Some of the arguments against gaining new astronomical knowledge via the Thirty Meter Telescope rests on sustaining outdated and unsound cultural beliefs. Erasing ignorance and superstition is not easy.

In addition, a disconnect regarding knowledge accumulation and its primacy in human development exists among many. Climate-change deniers exemplify this disconnect, as did a recent letter equating TMT supporters with a “crying child who demands having more and more ice cream” (“Kings wouldn’t support so many observatories,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 21). The letter writer, consciously or not, has colorfully summed up a perspective on knowledge accumulation held by the less thoughtful.

The basic need for factual knowledge as essential for human survival rests on the obvious companion need for our species to learn. Knowledge is not “ice cream,” a tasty but nonessential pleasurable delight.

Kenneth F. Nelson

Waipahu

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