4:38 am
Phil
I think TallMike, you are correct, but the simple fact if I may be so bold as to use the term is we have to take overwhelming evidence that something is correct to be the truth until overwhelming evidence to the contrary exists. If we fail to act on very important subjects we may well run out of time to correct the problem without it destroying many lives, cultures etc in the interim. For example global warming. Another may be sugar, we didn't;t think it was the problem initially, we thought fat was. Now the evidence overwhelmingly points to the contrary and the serious nature of the problem with massive obesity ruining lives. Even now we are afraid to act to our continued detriment.
8:14 am
franebrown
Finally caught up my rank after being away for 2 weeks!!
9:02 am
Penguin
It is ironic, TallMike, that you decry science and embrace "alternative facts" in a "Chatterbox" that is the product of science. The Chatterbox is the product of programming based on mathematics, sometimes referred to as the queen of the sciences, and languages in a field called computer science. The information of this dialogue is accessible due to centuries of science studying the nature of metals, conductors and semiconductors, and the nature of electricity, on a macro level, a micro level, and an atomic level. This communication is a direct product of the science you denigrate. The politics of "alternative facts", defunding scientific research, is likely to slow the advances that have made us great. Lies (alternative facts) are no substitute for the sciences that hold the promise of a real and better future.
10:52 am
tuco
I didn't label the Scientific Method as propaganda. I labeled your statements (Some of today's so called alternative facts will ultimately prevail, regardless of whether people rail against them. That is the real inconvenient truth.) as propaganda. Propaganda is putting for alteranative facts to support a false hypothesis for political and economic gain. ie. The Jews and Armenians are the reason for the downfall of the German and Turkish peoples. Global warming is a hoax. Trickle down economics works... etc.. etc..
10:56 am
tuco
Another good one is "The War on Coal" blaming the coal miners plight on Global Warming proponents when in reality Coal is in trouble due to cheap natural gas and oil and the rise of renewable energy.
11:03 am
tuco
TMI, just got home from a colonoscopy. So I can state unequivocally that I am not full of sh**t. :-)
1:45 pm
UnikeTheHunter
Did it, no green, no guess. It had a pretty complex tandem virtual. 18.
2:35 pm
lk911
tuco...what is trickle down economics?
11:35 pm
TallMike
Phil, I agree with you that dietary sugar is a problem. What you did not mention is that the "scientific" studies which pointed to dietary fats as the principal cause of obesity were manipulated by the food companies who stood to lose a bundle if sugar was implicated rather than fats. It took decades for the corruption to be discovered, and its effects are likely to linger for several more decades while some people make difficult changes to their diets and others suffer steadily worsening health from their sugar habit.
The same danger of corruption exists with respect to supposedly scientific investigations of global warming and climate change, but multiplied by maybe a million or so because of the enormous potential economic, political and personal consequences hanging on the outcomes of such investigations. Much evidence of manipulation has already emerged, including blatant instances of altering or cherry picking data. There have also been many wildly inaccurate forecasts of climate disaster, and most of us now take the new ones about as seriously as predictions of imminent invasion by hostile space aliens. I can't help wondering why all that doesn't undermine your confidence in what you refer to as the "overwhelming evidence" for man-made climate change.
11:39 pm
TallMike
Penguin, I do not decry science. I decry pseudo-science driven by politicians and others who steer research efforts towards predetermined conclusions, and I support defunding such so-called research.
Also, I do not embrace all alternative facts, just some of them.
11:40 pm
TallMike
tuco, I stand by my prediction that some of today's so called alternative facts will ultimately prevail. I find it curious that you label that propaganda. It is merely one of my opinions about the likely future without even a smidgeon of manipulative intent.
On the other hand, you seem once again to have claimed the right to pronounce final judgment on hypotheses you don't agree with. Isn't that a lot more like propaganda?