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Ah yes, peer-review. The same system that works for politicians. Throughout history the dogmas of formal science have obscured reality. You know, like the more arcane religions. 
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FUD is a technique employed by used car salesmen to pressure you into signing the papers NOW, RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE WHEN YOU COME BACK THIS BABY WILL BE OUT THE DOOR! And by some computer salesmen on IT managers - if you go with one of those CHEAPER guys, but they're gonna be outta business soon and then where would you be? It's also used by some religious practitioners to convince potential acolytes to commit themselves RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE YOU COULD DIE BY MORNING AND THEN WHERE WOULD YOU BE? Politicians, too, when they want or need to goad colleagues or constituents into immediate action without thinking of the repercussions. Robert Procter's neologism is appropriate and descriptive, though. Here's an interesting talk about how the of agnotology is implemented: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4UF_Rmlio
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... money can do positive things in the way of environmental issues. Tax money has helped build installations that cleaned our inland and coastal waters up to the point that we are now able to swim in it again, which was downright disgusting and dangerous in the -70s. That is one way to solve the problem, but there are others. We accomplished the same result here with a regulatory scheme that imposed stricter and stricter environmental standards over a few decades. The actual work was done with corporate money, and corporations were encouraged to arrive at suitable outcomes, not necessarily to follow government methods. Corporations developed economical ways to reach a large number of the goals set by government, and the effect on consumer prices was barely noticeable. And, we were not taxed, except to fund the regulatory agencies. Another tool that was used was tax incentives: reduction in corporate taxes for the timely accomplishment of environmental goals. That's even better, in my opinion: it's the right way to deal with people, so why shouldn't it work for corporations? PS - I like your new avatar. Looks like a polyommatine lycaenid, maybe the genus Polyommatus
"I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yes of course, the means you mentioned are practised alongside of the tax system here as well. Whatever works is fine. Many environment issues are just obvious and we can do something about it. Like some recent massive mud slides (China) are clearly the result of tree cutting and smogs in cities due to holy-cow car. Turn bikes into a serious means of transportation and you can breath fresher air and fight overweight all in one. Paris has car-freed the quais of the Seine. Everybody is delighted. Bikes are fine.
Yes, the butterfly is one of your Polyommatusses. They pass faithfully once a year when in the backyard the blackberries blossom.
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speaking of scientists, wasn't the antagonist in Sagan's Contact named Drumlin?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Sofar I've only known the writer Françoise Sagan. The one who wrote a.o. "Bonjour Tristesse" 
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Sofar I've only known the writer Françoise Sagan. The one who wrote a.o. "Bonjour Tristesse" ah, Carl Sagan.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Excerpt from "Pale Blue Dot" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehwWe can see the entire Cosmos series at Hulu for free (at least for now): http://www.hulu.com/search?query=cosmos&st=1Sagan's "Demon-Haunted World" should be required reading for any advanced high school diploma and for all college students. He had a keen interest in the stumbling blocks (obvious and not so obvious) to human civilization. http://www.philosophy.thecastsite.com/readings/godwantsyoudead/demonhauntedworld.pdf"... science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."
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I get a popup saying that it will only stream to IP addresses in the USA. 
"... science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."
That's the most profound thing I've read in some time. He was definitely onto something. Anyone here follow the new "hot word" forums at Dictionary.com? They are a complete mess of the ignorant, the demented, and the religiously brainwashed. Every single topic gets hijacked into an "Only Jesus can save you! (unless you're gay)" sort of thing. I think we are already far advanced in "sliding...back into superstition and darkness".
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Same thing happens with the NPR, Science, The Economist, NatGeo, etc. groups on Facebook. You often can't have an intelligent conversation about a new science-related article without a gaggle of them redirecting the thread by interjecting some irrelevant or completely mistaken "point." You want to just leave it, but it's so insane or the actual facts so readily available, you feel like you have to respond, lest some unwary person take it seriously. You can let it stand which allows them to continue crowing about how nobody can refute them, or you can rebut their assertions which 1) feeds the conspiracy mentality (see! if we weren't on to something, why is everybody so MAD at us?); 2) makes them appear more legitimate than they are (see! people think we're worth responding to!); 3) doesn't prevent them from crowing victory no matter how inane their "point" is. In rare and for the most part extreme circumstances, I have experienced both hallucination and delusion, but I realized the situation in short order. However the delusion some people have of their understanding of science is of an entirely different character. This is, I suspect, largely due to the Dunning-Kruger effect. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.64.2655&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Last edited by TheFallibleFiend; 08/17/10 03:57 PM.
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