A response to AGW, Revisited
I’m disappointed that James Randi of all people would use something so thoroughly dismissed as the Oregon Petition as an argument for his skepticism of AGW.
Debunking the Oregon Petition
What if the Oregon Petition names were real?
He may plead ignorance of the science on the AGW side, but as a professional skeptic he should be able to recognize the tactics used by the opponents. How he can justify the Oregon Petition while knowing the same tactic was used by the Discovery Institute regarding evolution is beyond me.
If his point was to call for:
“more attention to disease control, better hygienic conditions for food production and clean water supplies, as well as controlling the filth that we breathe from fossil fuel use…”
He could have easily written an article about sustainability and how it does not need a 100% agreement on AGW, making the whole question on AGW moot.
So, again I’m sitting here wondering how the great James Randi of all people would want a 100% proof from science, a fallacy I’m sure he’s well aware of being used to justify things like anti-vaccination and anti-evolution.
While climate change opponents masturbate to the hacked e-mails from scientists talking among themselves, discussing what is good data and what bad, other quacks are starting to use this to confirm for themselves that they were right all along.
The mechanism is quite easy to understand. If you are one of the few who believes X in field Y, you will feel connected to one of the few who believes D in field B. Especially when you’re already feeling ignored by your scientific community.
Then, when it seems that other scientific community is shown to be not as sure of themselves as previously outwardly projected, it is not a big leap of faith to apply that to your own scientific community – see, they always said they were sure, but look at them now! I bet my field isn’t as sure either, but they’re just covering it up!
http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/06/crank_magnetism_1.php
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/11/the_vindication_of_all_kooks_corollary_t.php
A meme is a (set of) ideas that is interesting, strong, true, or false, enough to ‘copy’ itself from one person to another.
The idea can be defined very broadly, from literal ideas to a melody to an image.
A Memeplex is a set of memes, which sortof work together to make replicating themselves easier. Some of the memes make sure that the whole concept is spread, one way or another.
