“I think that this, at moderate scale, is what is going in the AGW debate. When one side finds the other denying the “obvious” relevance of some fact, the principle of charity breaks down. Either the other guy doesn’t know what he’s saying, or he’s too much a fool to be worth talking to. Which is a reasonable position, provided we note that what will seem obvious, or indeed “reasonable”, will depend upon one’s background theory and different background theories will lead to contrary conclusions about who is and who is not a fool. Thus the unalloyed mutual acrimony of the AGW debate.”
Continue reading about The Climate Change Debate – Why We Can’t Agree
Professor Svensmark concludes……”So in many ways, we stand at a crossroads. The near future will be extremely interesting and I think it is important to recognize that nature is completely independent of what we humans think about it. Will Greenhouse theory survive a significant cooling of the Earth? Not in its current dominant form. Unfortunately, tomorrow’s climate challenges will be quite different than greenhouse theory’s predictions, and perhaps it becomes again popular to investigate the sun’s impact on climate.”
Fail! Have you noticed that latest internet meme? What’s a meme you ask? A meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke. “Fail” has become the latest cool word. Remember the great 180 negater… “not!”? As [...]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a public hearing to put “the science of climate change on trial,” the Los Angeles Times reports today. And the Chamber already has another famous trial in mind:
Chamber officials say it would be “the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century” — complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect. “It would be evolution versus creationism,” said William Kovacs, the chamber’s senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs.
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Richard Feynman was a delightful national treasure and Nobel Prize winning Physicist. You many remember him as the thoughtful scientist who nailed the root cause of the Challenger space shuttle disaster – cold 0-rings – which he demonstrated live during a presentation covered by the media by dropping some of the same 0-ring material into his glass of ice water. He also worked on the Manhattan Project. For Richard, being a scientist meant the truth was more important than being right. Integrity in science is paramount. Without it, science isn’t science and it will fail us. Or worse. We live in troubled pivotal times where money, politics and environmental fervor have created a heady cocktail that may be luring too many scientists – and society – astray. Richard warned his fellow scientist about going over to the dark side during his famous “Cargo Cult Science” commencement address that he gave at Caltech in 1974. If, like me, you’re grappling with all we’ve been told to date regarding global warming, climate change, carbon, and mankind’s role in it all, you could do a lot worse than read Feynman’s address regarding the slippery slope to bad science that he refers to as “Cargo Cult Science”.
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Often derided by his lesser known contemporaries who toiled away in scientific obscurity, Carl Sagan was an all too rare breed of scientist – a marketer with the soul of a poet. We could use a few more Carl Sagans to help us see things more clearly. Help us to develop and maintain perspective about [...]
