Are science writers in denial?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

I almost posted this in GD...

http://itsnotalecture.blogspot.com/2012/10/are-science-writers-in-denial.html

I'm very concerned about recent developments in politics and how they relate to science. A lot of people know about Congressman Todd "legitimate rape" Akin of Missouri. But if you don't follow science and science policy closely, you may not have heard about the issue of sea level rise in North Carolina or the recent comments from Paul Broun, a Congressman from Georgia.

I'm not simply concerned about these developments - I'm concerned that there are no strategies even under consideration to address them.

A few months ago a state government-appointed scientific commission estimated that the sea level in North Carolina would likely rise by 39 inches over the next century. That represents an acceleration over previous years, mostly due to climate change. The estimation is based on sound science, and it's actually a mid point of more and less severe estimates. Unfortunately, it also means that the houses and offices and shops you build right on the beaches of the Outer Banks will likely be underwater in a few decades.

That didn't stop the state's construction industry, however. They got a law passed saying the scientists were wrong, and it was spearheaded by a business owner who says climate change isn't real. So the commission has to go back to the drawing board - probably until they get the numbers to match something the builders like.

more at link

[mike_c]

1. some of us are working hard EVERY DAY to solve this problem....

In classrooms and laboratories all over the country. There's only one proven defense against ignorance: education.

on edit: Broun is a special case of stupid-- he's willfully, proudly stoopid. With university degrees in chemistry and medicine, he is not unintelligent, or at least not untrainable. But he is clearly ignorant, in spite of all that has been invested in educating him. He's not only on the House Science Committee-- his district includes the University of Georgia, where he received his chemistry degree and I my doctorate. I can personally vouch for the quality of the opportunity he received at UGA, and the tragedy of his apparent decision to squander it. Words fail me.

[caraher]

3. I'm not sure how well-proven the defense is

It turns out there's research suggesting that education in fact does NOT help!

The idealistic, liberal, Enlightenment notion that knowledge will save us, or unite us, was even put to a scientific test last year—and it failed badly.

Yale researcher Dan Kahan and his colleagues set out to study the relationship between political views, scientific knowledge or reasoning abilities, and opinions on contested scientific issues like global warming. In their study, more than 1,500 randomly selected Americans were asked about their political worldviews and their opinions about how dangerous global warming and nuclear power are. But that’s not all: They were also asked standard questions to determine their degree of scientific literacy (e.g, “Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria—true or false?”) as well as their numeracy or capacity for mathematical reasoning (e.g., “If Person A’s chance of getting a disease is 1 in 100 in 10 years, and person B’s risk is double that of A, what is B’s risk?”).

The result was stunning and alarming. The standard view that knowing more science, or being better at mathematical reasoning, ought to make you more accepting of mainstream climate science simply crashed and burned.

Instead, here was the result. If you were already part of a cultural group predisposed to distrust climate science—e.g., a political conservative or “hierarchical-individualist”—then more science knowledge and more skill in mathematical reasoning tended to make you even more dismissive. Precisely the opposite happened with the other group—“egalitarian-communitarians” or liberals—who tended to worry more as they knew more science and math. The result was that, overall, more scientific literacy and mathematical ability led to greater political polarization over climate change—which, of course, is precisely what we see in the polls.

[BlueJazz]

4. Interesting. I've read other studies that (in a similar fashion) confer the conclusions....

...yours speaks about.

I wonder if Americans a more "head in the sand" than other countries. ??

[NoOneMan]

5. Education creates a strong working class

A strong working class enables civilization to more efficiently exploit the planet


I would be highly skeptical of any of civilization's products (like religion or modern education) being used as a tool to help stop itself from controlling, exploiting and destroying our world.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I don't understand why writers are in the blog title

He seems to be saying that activists should be going further - an alliance with insurers about the reality of sea level rise, for instance. Or getting someone to run against Broun. I can't see anything to do with writers there.

Unless by 'writers' he means "bloggers", like him. But I can't see why he asks if they're 'in denial'.

[Xipe Totec]

6. I say let evolution take it's natural course.

Let's find out, once and for all whether stupidity or intelligence is the better survival trait.

Let those who do not believe that Global Warming is real, buy those beach front properties.