3/26/09

Do some interest groups exaggeratewhile business interests belittlethe threat of climate change?


Can we ever know, on any contentious or politicized topic


how to recognize the real conclusions of science


and how to distinguish them


from scientific-sounding spin or misinformation?


 


Partisans of this issue often wield vastly different facts


and sometimes seem to even live in different realities


 


Perhaps the only hope involves taking a stand


for a breed of journalism and commentary


that is not permitted to simply say anything


that is constrained by standards of evidence, rigor and reproducibility


that are similar to the canons of modern science itself


 


Chris Mooney


Climate Change Myths and Facts


Washington Post, March 21, 2009


 


Does thinking you understand what another says


mean you hear what they mean?


 


Is an untruth disseminated as true a lie


if the truth remains unfound through incuriosity?


 


The partisan


when engaged in a dispute


cares nothing about the rights of the question


but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions


 


Plato


Why would some mainstream media personalities


criticize policy positions of some


while receiving undisclosed, indirect compensation from others


interested in non-attributed dissention?

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