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

Popular Misconceptions II: Science in the Media

Bad Science

The way I see it, a lot of the confusion and mistrust of science among the general public comes from  the way it's reported on in the media.

Popular Misconceptions I: Consensus

So, I asked some of my friends & readers for input on what they distrust about “mainstream science” - later clarifying that I'm referring to the processes of professional research, peer-review, and the concept of “scientific consensus”. I've decided to do another multi-part series, this time tackling each response individually, in the hopes of helping everybody better understand that system which advances our understanding of the natural universe.

Feel free to let me know in the comments below, or privately through the inbox for my Facebook page or Twitter account if there's something specific that you distrust about the way science is done.

Science is Not a Religion

http://www.slayerment.com/science-vs-religion-which-right

I've got most of another long post ready to go, it's just going to take a little more editing than usual. In the meantime, I thought I'd take a look at an argument that I've seen many times over, mostly when Atheists are debating Theists about the pros and cons of religion. This argument is often used to frustrate or undermine the scientific argument, to say that it requires just as much faith, that it inspires the same fervor. This argument is, of course, that Science is a Religion, just as dogmatic as the rest.

Geneticists Starting from Scratch? I doubt it.

50 years of DNA research turned upside down as scientists discover second programming language within genetic code -- Science & Technology -- Sott.net:

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: Magic Show & Hiding God

Part 9: Magic Show

Ah, we're back to the planes. I actually enjoyed this one, because I got to learn some interesting things about modern communications technology. Sargent admits that some of his own listeners, attempting to repeat his observations from part 7, discovered that there really are non-stop long-hauls over the southern hemisphere, so of course he had to come up with a way to disprove that those flights actually happen.

Magical camouflage, obviously.

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!

Roundworld Conspiracy: Map Makers & Shell Beach

Part 3: Map Makers

In this video, Sargent talks about the layout of his Flat Earth.

He talks about an ancient Islamic scientist called Al-Biruni, who is credited with creating the Azimuthal Equidistant style of map projection. It doesn't matter if you've personally heard of him, his contributions to science were significant, and yes, even NASA recognized him when naming one of the many craters on the moon.

He's using me for what!?

The Roundworld Conspiracy, Introduction

In my previous entry, I explained that I had been asked to review a series of YouTube videos by Mark Sargent. In these he attempts to outline a series of “clues” that, in his estimation, point to one irrefutable conclusion:

That the Earth is in fact flat, and enclosed in a massive dome.

Flat Earth "Theory"

Someone recently asked me to respond to a video series detailing "proof" that the Earth is in fact not a sphere, but a flat plane. The narrator's argument is that we inhabit a cosmic snow globe roughly equivalent to what's described in Judeo-Christian scripture and other religious texts. It was over an hour and a half of video, so it took me a while get through all 11 parts, but I eventually did, and even managed to take some notes. Unfortunately, parsing the fallacies and poetry into something I can assemble a response to is taking much longer. (Yes, poetry. The Tower of Babel is presented as evidence.) So, stay tuned for that, there will be another entry on this subject at a later date. For now, simply enjoy and consider the following videos of our round world spinning through space.

Organic Cherry Picking

Bad Chart Thursday: Organic Cherry Picking

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.

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.

More on Reading Science

On the subject of last week's rant, here are a couple of useful infographics to better arm yourself against those who would mislead you into poor choices.

Science is Hard... But Don't Turn Off your Brain!

I've learned something interesting recently.

According to the Canadian Council of Academies, out of 35 nations whose statistics were available, we rank first in the world in science literacy. Excitement! For the briefest moment, I was proud of my nation. Then I kept reading: we're first in the world, at 42%. Meaning, 42% of Canadians understand enough about science that we can properly decipher a science-related news article, and that makes us the most scientifically-literate nation on the planet.

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'