Popular Misconceptions III: Accounting for Life Experience

One interesting idea that somebody suggested - and which seems some of the opinions of activist (or, blogtivists at least) are based on - is that pure science fails to account for the day-to-day life of normal human beings; that it is therefore irrelevant to our daily lives.

A typical scientist, relaxing at home

Roundworld Conspiracy: Souls in the System & Conclusion

Part 11 - Souls in the System

Sargent starts this one off with a discussion of a documentary intended to prove that the moon landings were hoaxes. The part that has his attention here is that the Apollo astronauts that the film maker had attempted to interview had refused to swear on the Christian Bible to the truth of their stories.

Roundworld Conspiracy: Long Haul & Creative force

Part 7: The Long Haul

Here Sargent actually does something right, from a scientific standpoint. He not only explains his real-world observations, but points his audience to where they can observe the same. Plus, air travel is much more accessible to the average citizen of Earth than space travel, so he's getting close to some testable hypotheses with this video.

Go ahead and get comfy.

Roundworld Consipiracy: Status Quo & Depth Perception

Part 5: Status Quo

In Part 5, Sargent is largely speculating - attempting to prove himself right by discussing the progression of events that might have led to the population of a dome-world being deceived by their own leaders about the existence of the dome. I won't waste time on the historic details, because an imagined history is not proof, whether he gets any particular points right or not. He is clearly excited by the idea that religions are superior to science, but that's just more of his own biases shining through.

The nerds are stuck in their labs, let's party!

GMOs, Go, Go, Go!

It seems the pseudo-scientific issue that bears the most weight with the people in my life is anti-GMO activism, so I once again find myself evaluating an article on that topic. This time around, Roberta L. Millstein attempts to take a middle road, but falls into a standard anti-science trap. “Just label it,” says the pseudo-scientist, “let the people decide.” Sure, label the GMOs. Teach the creationists’ “controversy”. Let the parents decide whether to vaccinate their kids. Oops, was my opinion leaking through here? I’ll get back to that in a bit.

She takes issue with the argument that the anti-GMO movement, and even the suggestion to label GMOs, is anti-science. She has conveniently listed her reasons in a numbered list, so let me take a specific look at these arguments.

Where's my frying pan?

I don't know much about Pierre Trudeau's history in Canadian politics, but I'll admit I'm not a fan of his son. Ignoring for the moment his actual political stance though, the more I see of him, the harder it is to not see a certain Disney cad...

Am I the only one?

PS: Sorry about the blade, I don't have a lot of experience with watermarks. Poor Flynn!

Strong-Arm Tactics, or Brand Confidence?

Here's another article shared by the same person who's been sending me the GMO links:

How Seed and Pesticide Companies Push Farmers to Use Bee-Killing Insecticides

There's a lot of reading to do here, and I haven't familiarized myself yet with the subject in general or the specific research, (some of which appears to be behind a paywall), but there's one big, obvious issue right in the article itself that I wanted to comment on. The headline makes a bold accusation of coercion, as though the sellers are strong-arming innocent farmers into using dangerous substances. When you read the details the same article provides however, the actual practice becomes much less sinister:

The companies also include incentives to buy coated seed in the form of insurance: If their crop fails , the farmer will get a 100 percent rebate. Without the coatings, the rebate is only 50 to 75 percent.

Now, I'm not an expert, but I did spend a decade working in shopping malls and customer service centres. In retail, this is what we call a "warranty". You put a warranty on products that you're confident are unlikely to fail. It's just good business; you're making a bet that the product is reliable. The elaborate long-term warranties are for brands like Sony and LG, not the Chinese knock-offs. That would be a bad bet. It's all about confidence in your product.

Like I said, I won't criticize the science until I've read up on it some more, but I will criticize the ethics of the writer (or their editor/publisher). Once again, an article is written to provoke an emotional reaction, at the expense of the "evil corporations" who are doing nothing more than performing the role our society needs them to perform, in a way that allows them to continue doing so: profitably.

Why buy the Scientists, when you can just buy the Government?

The G.O.P.’s War on Science Gets Worse - The New Yorker.

Look at those faces. McConnell appears to be on the verge of tears, while Boehner shoots him a warning glance. Just get through this and we'll be free men. I don't really believe they're being coerced, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Idaho Father Debates Anti-Science Activist

Wow, the posts are coming fast and furious this week, huh? Well, I’ve had trouble in the past coming up with topics, but meanwhile a friend keeps sending me links to science articles to explain or debunk, and my responses keep getting longer. In fact, this will be the third entry here that started there. So, what the hell? I’m going to keep posting them, and I invite you all to take part by sending me new articles! You can do that through the comments section, my Twitter account, or my Facebook Page.

Snake-Oil and Charismatic Fear-Mongers

I'd like to talk a little about an example of pseudo-science that has had dramatic, visible effects on the world stage.

They do love their drama.

Lesson Learned, Consolation Prize Earned

OK, so this week I got to relearn a lessen about keeping a backup of my work, because the majority of my last blog entry is gone.

Damn.

The "Food Babe" Blogger Is Full of Shit

This is a big part of why I decided it was worth giving blogging a shot: "The Food Babe". No qualifications, little to no scientific understanding or (from what I can tell) interest, but she makes broad claims about scientific concepts, pushing pointless and often dangerous ideas about human biology, and yet she has a self-styled "army" of followers who will take up her cause. And she makes a living at it! But don't take my word for it, follow the link and read a well-researched essay on the insanity, complete with citations.

The "Food Babe" Blogger Is Full of Shit:

'via Blog this'

The GMO Conspiracy

A big issue that I see discussed often (and which seems to be a hot-button for some people I know personally - sorry folks, some of you won't like this much) is GMOs. After a recent incident where a well-known scientist had made cautionary statements about their prevalence, then later announced publicly that he had changed his mind, I did a little a research on the matter inspired by - but in a slightly different direction from - someone else's post [1]. That one is an interesting read, and gives some little-known information on the history of public opinion's "Most Evil Corporation" [2].

"No Right" vs. "No Business"

In my post earlier, I mentioned my belief that those who don't understand an issue have "no business" affecting decisions related to that issue. Completely by coincidence, (because it's near enough impossible that any of the bloggers involved have read my introductory post the day I posted it), this post made its way to me via the Richard Dawkins Foundation, which does an excellent job of clarifying the difference between "no business" and "no right".

On the “right” to challenge a medical or scientific consensus

Hello World!

Hi there, welcome to my new opinion blog! I'm hoping to generate some discussions on the topics I cover here, so please do use the comment section at the bottom of each post.

My first real post will be auto-posted tomorrow morning, but I expect that I'll be stirring up some strong reactions among the Internet-Activism crowd right off the bat, so for today, here's an introduction to who I am, to give you an idea of what may be to come.