Because, one does not need faith in science. The scientific method in the pursuit of explanations should convince anybody that the truth is out there, and that the truth cannot be hidden for long either. There is no concept of only a few divinely chosen few having access to the truth.
Well, that is what a rational mind would think. But then there are the nutcases, at the extreme right wing as well as the extreme left side, who think that they know better.
And they even go one step beyond that when they claim that scientists are cooking up some conspiracy together. Here in the US of A--not in some caricatured traditional society!
A Distinguished Research Professor of Marine Chemistry at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego writes about the exchanges he has had with climate change deniers, and concludes there:
In “The Inquisition of Climate Change” (2011), James Powell wrote, “I have come to believe that in the denial of global warming, we are witnessing the most vicious, and so far most successful, attack on science in history.”It is one heck of a bizarre society in which I live, with all kinds of lunatics waging wars against reason, convinced about their faith in whatever narrative it is that suits them.
I now have a firsthand appreciation of this entrenched hostility to science, especially that related to global climate change and future warming. What I do not understand is the reason for this hostility.
What the deniers don't understand is this: yes, scientists might get something wrong. But, it is the same scientific method to pursue the explanations that also then uncovers the mistakes. Like in this case, in which a study claimed that "rats fed Monsanto's GM corn had suffered tumours and multiple organ failure."
The publisher of a controversial and much-criticised study suggesting genetically modified corn caused tumours in rats has withdrawn the paper after a year-long investigation found it did not meet scientific standards.Tada! The truth is out there!
A friend sent me a link to this note from the American Meteorological Society, in the context of the misleading ways in which a climate change denying group had gone about a survey:
Rather than take someone else’s interpretation of the survey results, read the paper yourself and draw your own conclusions. It is freely available here as an Early Online Release.If only corporations and government, too, were as transparent in their processes as the scientific method is! Oh, but should we wish for such transparency?
A difference between the AMS and some organizations is the transparency and scientific integrity with which we operate. This survey was conducted to satisfy scientific curiosity on an important topic and the results are published for all to see. This is the way science is meant to work.
2 comments:
"James Powell wrote, “I have come to believe that in the denial of global warming, we are witnessing the most vicious, and so far most successful, attack on science in history.”
There's a typo there, I think he meant to say was "I have come to believe that in the denial of global warming, we are witnessing the most vicious, and so far most successful, attack on pseudoscience in history.”
cheers
klem
There is only a rare chance you will come back here, given that you went the "anonymous" route. In any case, my response: nope, your comment is neither funny nor factual. There is no "pseudo" in that, and as much as the deniers believe that this is all psuedoscience, we are working with data/evidence here.
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