The Scientific Method

The Earth’s Climate System

by Terry Oldberg I am attempting to correct an error in Wikipedia’s article on Earth’s climate system as it is currently written. Unfortunately, Wikipedia will not let me update its article. The error is to mistake an “abstract” event of the future for Earth’s climate system for a “concrete” event of the future for this

Cognitive Biases

Courtesy of Elon Musk, some things we should know to think logically. Fundamental Attribution Error. When someone is late, it’s because they’re lazy. But if you’re late, it was the traffic. Self-Serving Bias. Attributing your successes to your skill and your screw ups to bad luck. In-Group Favoritism. Tendency to favor those in our group over those who are

Aliens Cause Global Warming

Micheal Crichton describes the fundamental political problem of climate change: it is a religion promoted by nutcases who dismiss facts, logic, and science that contradicts their environmental belief. I have taken the liberty to bold some of his sentences to make his message more clear. – Ed by Michael Crichton Caltech Michelin Lecture January 17, 2003

In science, consensus is irrelevant

by Mark J. Perry, AEI (excerpt) As part of my series of posts this week to recognize the green holy day called Earth Day, here’s what Michael Crichton had to say about “scientific consensus” back in 2003 when he gave a lecture at the California Institute of Technology titled “Aliens Cause Global Warming” (emphasis mine):

Feynman: The Key to Science (1964)

“Now I’m going to discuss how we would look for a new law. In general, we look for a new law by the following process. “First, we guess it (audience laughter), no, don’t laugh, that’s the truth. Then we compute the consequences of the guess, to see if this law we guess is right, to

Is Climate Change Pseudoscience? Absolutely!

by Ivar Giaever, 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics [Dr. Giaver is a Democrat. – Ed] In 2008 I participated on a panel at the Lindau meeting discussing “Global Warming” and to prepare, I looked into the subject using the internet. I found that the general belief is that the average surface temperature over the whole

Carl Sagan’s Rules for Bullshit-Busting

by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings Necessary cognitive fortification against propaganda, pseudoscience, and general falsehood. Carl Sagan was many things — a cosmic sage,voracious reader, hopeless romantic, andbrilliant philosopher. But above all, he endures as our era’s greatest patron saint of reason and common sense, a master of the vital balance between skepticism and openness. In

The Common Alarmist Logical Fallacy

by Dr. Ed Berry Here is an easy way to illustrate the common logical fallacy called “affirming the consequent. Consider the following logic statement: If Human CO2 causes global warming Then Human CO2 may cause glaciers to melt. (A implies B.) Glaciers are melting. Therefore, Human CO2 causes global warming. (B implies A.) It is

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