{"id":3016,"date":"2013-08-20T15:46:32","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T22:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/politicalhat.com\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2013-08-20T15:46:32","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T22:46:32","slug":"questioning-assumptions-silencing-dissent-because-science-says-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/2013\/08\/20\/questioning-assumptions-silencing-dissent-because-science-says-so\/","title":{"rendered":"Questioning Assumptions: Silencing Dissent Because Science Says So"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has come out and said that those who work for the Interior Dept. should NOT question the assumption that human activity is causing total <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/interior-secretary-i-dont-want-any-climate-change-deniers-in-my-department\/article\/2534142\" target=\"_blank\">ecological DOOM<\/a>, and stated that &#8220;I hope there are no climate-change deniers in the Department of the Interior.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C5i9ZjGSYOI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course, the models that forecast ecological annihilation have been, and are continuing to be, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-20947224\" target=\"_blank\">spectacularly wrong<\/a>.\u00a0 Even <a href=\"http:\/\/www.powerlineblog.com\/archives\/2013\/08\/most-geoscientists-reject-global-warming-theory.php\" target=\"_blank\">most geoscientists<\/a> reject the idea that human activity is the prime mover for climate or that we are DOOMED because we filthy humans besmirch glorious Gaia.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The roots problem is that science is never <em>settled<\/em>.\u00a0 If it were, we would still be practicing phrenology!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><div id=\"attachment_3017\" style=\"width: 423px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3017\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3017\" title=\"iphreno\" src=\"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Phrenology_Science.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"413\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Phrenology_Science.jpg 413w, https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Phrenology_Science-275x300.jpg 275w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 413px) 100vw, 413px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3017\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Science is Settled<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!--more-->&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Doubt is the core essence of science:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Michael Faraday warned against the tendency of the mind &#8216;to rest on an assumption&#8217; and when it appears to fit in with other knowledge to forget that it has not been proved.&#8221;<br \/>\n\u2014 quotes by W. I. B. Beveridge in The Art of Scientific Investigation, 1957<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00ad<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;The main thing you need to learn is to doubt.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t believe anything you&#8217;re told without good reason and argument.\u00a0 Doubt underpins science.&#8221;<br \/>\n\u2014 Nobel Prize winner Richard Smalley, in Chem &amp; Eng News, July 15, 2002<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Those who do not doubt, are the <em>real<\/em> anti-science &#8220;deniers.&#8221;\u00a0 Obama&#8217;s &#8220;Organizing for Action&#8221; got into the action <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BarackObama\/status\/366971531420659713\" target=\"_blank\">declaring<\/a> that &#8220;Climate change is real. #ScienceSaysSo.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There were plenty of other things that &#8220;science&#8221; once declared settled:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" align=\"center\">\n<p>&quot;Disease is caused by a toad or a small dwarf living in the stomach, because <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23ScienceSaysSo&amp;src=hash\">#ScienceSaysSo<\/a>&quot; ~ Theodoric of York | <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/HIph6dLNAY\">http:\/\/t.co\/HIph6dLNAY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Political Hat (@ThePoliticalHat) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThePoliticalHat\/statuses\/366994256251985920\">August 12, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" align=\"center\">\n<p>&quot;The sun revolves around the Earth, because the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23ScienceSaysSo&amp;src=hash\">#ScienceSaysSo<\/a>&quot; &#8211; Claudius Ptolemy <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/BhMHve5yN0\">pic.twitter.com\/BhMHve5yN0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Political Hat (@ThePoliticalHat) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThePoliticalHat\/statuses\/366993511641395200\">August 12, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" align=\"center\">\n<p>Here be Dragons, because <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23ScienceSaysSo&amp;src=hash\">#ScienceSaysSo<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/efAPgQbRwo\">pic.twitter.com\/efAPgQbRwo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Political Hat (@ThePoliticalHat) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThePoliticalHat\/statuses\/366992492098383872\">August 12, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sadly, some people never learn to get over their own hubris.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has come out and said that those who work for the Interior Dept. should NOT question the assumption that human activity is causing total ecological DOOM, and stated that &#8220;I hope there are no &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/2013\/08\/20\/questioning-assumptions-silencing-dissent-because-science-says-so\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[22,26,25,86,30],"class_list":["post-3016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-fail","tag-green","tag-higher-ed","tag-science","tag-scoamf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21116,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions\/21116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/impeachreno.org\/politicalhat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}