Yo, Sabo, (others, if anyone wants),
Want to try something constructive? I put together a list a few years back that I believed could be a tool for better understanding the tricks of deceptive messaging and helping folks prepare for debating important issues.
I knew it was rough and I was, am, sure it’s missing some important nuances. But, you know, stuck within one’s own little sphere, one can only get so far. I invite you to have at it. Pick it to shreds, then see if you can do better. You know bitching about the horrors and hypocrisy is easy - figuring out something constructive to do about it, that is the challenge. You game?
DECEMBER 30, 2018 d) Considering our dysfunctional public dialogue in 14 verses.2018 was the climax of a decade long crescendo in my decades long effort to network with rationalists, scientists and science communicators, in what I fancied was our communal struggle to confront the nonsense that corporate funded science contrarians and select politicians were so successfully peddling to an under-informed and mostly disinterested public - and since New Year’s Eve is upon us, I feel like collecting some of my favorite posts in another effort to summarize my perspective.
This is the flip-side of my flier for the Democratic State Convention, it’s a list of various important aspects of climate science communication along with key pit-falls and observations, in 14 verses.1) Uncertainties vs. known Physical Certainties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2) Map vs. Territory Problem ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3) Sloppy usage of “Natural Variability” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4) “Seepage” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5) “Global Warming” vs “Climate Change” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6) Responsibilities of Scientists vs Responsibilities of Citizens and Students ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7) Define the Debate, A to Z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8) Intellectual Confrontation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9) Call out False Claims & Lies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10) Better than Skepticism ===> Critical Thinking Skills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11) Confront Trash Talk with Rhetorical Jujutsu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12) Faith-based Thinking - God or EGO? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13) The pain of our brave new world ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 14) WE THE PEOPLE, have the right to demand honesty when hearing what real experts are trying to convey, without being flooded with the constant deceptive and fraudulent cross-screaming of the propaganda machine of unhinged self-obsessed oligarchs and their astro-turfing thugs.</blockquote> That's just the headings - visit the website <a href="https://confrontingsciencecontrarians.blogspot.com">ConfrontingScienceContrarians.blogspot.com</a> to see the concise accompanying description. Do better, and share. Why? Well, why not, just for shits and grins. A mental exercise. Cheers,