Liberal Fundamentalism
Today's Saying
[I]t is the one season of the year when we can lay aside all gnawing worry, indulge in sentiment without censure, assume the carefree faith of childhood, and just plain "have fun." Whether they call it Yuletide, Noel, Weinachten, or Christmas, people around the earth thirst for its refreshment as the desert traveller for the oasis. ~D.D. Monroe
Liberal Fundamentalism
When I was in Science class in High School I was told that the essence of science is to accept nothing as true .Instead every theory needed to be challenged with more experiments and more information gathering. If this lead to long held “ truths” being proven wrong that was a good thing not a bad one. The true scientist did not have any truth that couldn’t be challenged.
Thus one did not lie to protect a “ truth” if you were a scientist.
You did not act to prevent further study and publication of scientific challenges to the “ truth” if you were a scientist.
You did not try to silence those who did not accept the “ truth” if you were a scientist.
Religious people might do all those things as they did to Galileo who dared challenge the “ truth” that the sun revolved around the earth.
But for real scientists no truth was absolute.
Well my High school teacher never met the scientists who believe in the “ truth” of Global Warming caused by CO2 emissions.
For this absolute given “ truth” scientists have:
Fudged data.
Prevented the publishing of critical papers.
Gotten a colleague fired.
They have defended the “ truth” as carefully as the Church defended it’s “ truth” against Galileo .
Now I don’t know if Global Warming is true or not. It may very well be but I do know this is not scientific.
Instead science has surrendered to political agendas.
Politicians don’t like things that might be true.
They want absolutes to build their legislation on.
Once they have hung their legislation on a “ truth” they sure don’t want it challenged.
So science sells out for grants, preferred treatment, good standing with the people in power.
Sell outs are always zealots for the cause.
It is time for the scientific community to return to science.
Dissenting views with their data and supporting evidence need to be published. They need to be answered not destroyed.
Data like the last twenty years the earth has seen cooling not heating need to be examined and explained.
Science needs to disregard the political and act like scientists.
Out of all this it is possible that the Global Warming theory proves to be the best available theory to explain all the relevant data but it is also possible that it isn’t.
Real science looks for but doesn’t start with truth.
Let’s get back to science.
All of Pigeon Falls was discovering the same thing. Mrs. Trumble went to the town hall where she had to start a fire in the wood heater to get warm. Soon she was joined by Eugene who had come because he knew she would want to ask him why.
“ Do we have to pay Annabelle again to go back to the present” she asked.
Eugene shook his head “ Susan had nothing to do with this but when she finds that we are gone she will do something to bring us back.”
“Susan! I thought her name was Annabelle” Mrs. Trumble remarked.
“ There are a number of things I didn’t tell you before”, Eugene said .” Right now we just have to trust Susan.”
Mrs. Trumble , looking confused said, “ Why don’t you just go up the mountain and tell Susan and get us out of here.?”
Eugene looking very sad said “ First there is no Susan yet. Second everything I read while I was gone says that if there was time travel and that is what we have here and a man meets himself the paradox will cause a massive rift in the universe. I am still up in the cabin with Annabelle and I’m here with you. So I don’t dare go up the mountain and we have to hope I don’t come down. Our best course of action is just to wait and hope Susan acts fast. ”
Mrs. Trumble waited for the other leaders and then they decided to spread the word that this was a temporary glitch and they should be back in the future in a day or two.
Pastor Joan went and told Nancy as the best method of spreading the news.
Somewhere in Pigeon Falls a little child having heard a number of adults say the same phrase tries to say it. It come out in an ancient language that sounds like babbling. Here is what the child said.
"Те, що ніколи не був
Те, що повинно бути ще раз. "
Which in English is:
Те, що повинно бути ще раз. "
Which in English is:
“That which never was is gone
That which should be is again. “
posted by Dr.John at 1:00 AM
16 Comments:
Whenever I discover child within I am the best.
Dr. John -- I think you might find Amoeba's post for today interesting. You might also ask where you got your "facts". I don't trust anybody anymore. It is all about power and money.
And I am too stressed with my move to have any reaction to the latest Pigeon Falls drama but a wish for a bar stool at the Fly Inn and a nice cold -- soda.
Wow. As a scientist, I could not agree more with your tirade against the way science has been perverted from the search of truth to the defence of theories and the influence of capitalism and politics. For some, science has replaced God but has become their God.
The situation with the scientists of Global Warming fudging their info/reports is an interesting one to follow. Since scientists are just people too it was bound to happen.
Yes, We Have No Bananas
For a completely different take on the alleged "fudged data" issue, see the four-part (to date) blog series by Jeff Masters, of the Weather Underground company and website, on climate change and the "Manufactured Doubt" campaign waged by powerful, and worried, interests to discredit global-warming research.
The vast majority of scientists still conduct themselves according to the principles that you learned in school. Unfortunately, the vast majority of scientists are also human beings, and human beings under the crosscutting pressures of unprecedented levels of expectation and unprecedentedly severe competition for funds. When I was a program manager at a major US agency, the total annual budget for the program in which I was participating would have bought maybe a dozen cruise missiles. The chairman of the Disney Corporation earned eight times our budget (or was it 80 times) in straight salary alone. It is little wonder that more and more of our scientists talk, and sometimes act, like cutthroat business executives ... not least because so many scientists have become business executives because the traditional science career has lost any connection to economic rationality.
Despite all this, as Masters points out and documents, most of the comments leading to proclamations of nefarious doings by scientists by Wall Street Journal editors and others have been on the basis of stolen correspondence, cherry-picked for "juicy" bits taken out of context.
The world needs scientists such as you describe as never before. But I will advise no young person to take up a career in the sciences. It simply is too much grief for too little return.
I don't want to be like the ostrich, but then I don't want my weather destroying the world. The weathermen never seem to get it right...it changes from one day to the next..rather like the time fluctuations in Pigeon Falls!
Sandi
I'm as confused as you are Dr John.
Here is a report from the Nobel Peace prize winner that I heard speak at the Nobel Conference this fall:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/12/08/ipcc.climategate.emails/index.html
I'm not ignoring you... but I am going to ignore the science post today... I just don't know enough to even have an opinion on it!
As for Pigeon Falls... I hope that "babbling" baby is not Susan!
I watched a programmed on TV last night Channel 4 called Man on EArth where Tony Robinson examinesd how changes in climate have affected humans throughout history and asks what we can learn as we face our own climate crisis today. At the end of the programme I decided there isn't a damn thing we can do to stop global warming because Mother Nature will do her thing no matter what we do!
I question if anyone really knows what's going on any more.
I for one would love to see Pigeon Falls spending Christmas in the past. I think past Christmases had more to do with what Christmas is about than what we dream up today.
And handmade presents surpass anything you buy at a store.
I am not so sure we are in the midst of Global Warming with Winter here with really cold temperatures and snow. More snow is forecast again for this weekend.
Some say the weather patterns return about every twenty years or so. The last few years the winters have been mild. Now it seems to be an old fashioned winter.
Whatever the case it is cold and the roads are not the greatest.
Here, Here, Dr. John, well said.
Pigeon Falls: too much stress at this very stressful time of year. I need to get the last of the presents made, and study for mid terms, and spend a little time just watching clouds float by...to calm a troubled soul...
Oh no! When with Pigeon Fall's history hopping roller coaster end?
*said in mock despair with a grin*
Dr. John, I do not know enough about this subject to have an opinion, but I do know that when politicians get involved it may mean that greed is involved.
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