Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Philosophy

Pseudoscience as a Consequence of Confirmation Bias: Matt Ridley

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Matt Ridley began a recent lecture to the national academy of sciences in Scotland by suggesting it was easy to distinguish science from pseudoscience. He explained that:
Astronomy is science; astrology is pseudoscience.
Molecular biology is science; homeopathy is pseudoscience.
Chemistry is science; alchemy is pseudoscience.

But Ridley also reminded us that Sir Isaac Newton, the famous seventeenth-century mathematician and scientist, was passionate about alchemy.

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Cardinal Attacks Primitive Climate Change Religion

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IF the saying ‘it takes one to know one’ has any truth then the extraordinary attack by Cardinal George Pell on the science of anthropogenic global warming in a recent lecture given in Westminster Cathedral Hall, London, has special significance.   Not because the Cardinal is a scientist, but because he apparently recognizes a competing belief system when he sees one.   Indeed the Cardinal is so blunt as to liken the language used by AGW proponents with that used in “primitive religious controversy” and compares the costs “true-believers” would impose on economies with “the sacrifices offered traditionally in religion, and the sale of carbon credits with the pre-Reformation practice of selling indulgences”.

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Let’s Agree to Disagree for the Sake of Science: Daniel Sarewitz

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“THE very idea that science best expresses its authority through consensus statements is at odds with a vibrant scientific enterprise. Consensus is for textbooks; real science depends for its progress on continual challenges to the current state of always-imperfect knowledge. Science would provide better value to politics if it articulated the broadest set of plausible interpretations, options and perspectives, imagined by the best experts, rather than forcing convergence to an allegedly unified voice.

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Effects of Gravity on the IR Quantum/Waves Frequency: A Note from Nasif S. Nahle

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WE analyse the effect of gravity on the frequency of incident solar quantum/waves upon the surface, and on the quantum/waves emitted by the surface and the atmosphere.    This analysis shows that the IR quantum/waves emitted from the surface towards the atmosphere and the isotropic IR quantum/waves radiated by atmosphere lose energy by the effect of gravity, enough as to contradict a supposed “greenhouse effect” in the atmosphere by exaggerated thermal properties of the “greenhouse gases”.

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Big Bang Rebuttal, Part 3: A Note from Joseph Olson

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TOOL making and communication skills are easily distinguishing features between human beings and other species on this planet. When coupled with a natural curiosity and the ability learn from our mistakes, we have lifted most humans from the vulgar realities of our ancestor’s existence. For those bent on controlling others, tools and communication must be controlled and manipulated.

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Belief in the Truth of a Theory

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I wrote these two laws down on a scrap of paper years ago. I still have the scrap of paper but not the original reference.    They seem relevant to dicussions about power stations, the Murray River and especially the universe.  

Harris’s First Law:

Belief in the truth of a theory is inversely proportional to the precision of the science.

Harris’s Second Law:

The creativity of a scientist is directly proportional to how much he knows, and inversely proportional to how much he believes.

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posted August 04, 2005
posted May 09, 2008
posted October 14, 2010