Neil has something to say. Listen up bitches! *promote

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, April 19th, 2017 2:22pm PDT - promote requested by original submitter eric3579.

I know this is titled "Science in America", but what he's talking about is a global problem.

The whole "vaccines cause autism" nonsense was started in the UK. The Australian government is still willfully sticking its head in the sand regarding climate change. Only 8% of people in South Africa and Egypt accept that there is scientific evidence for evolution.

That said, it's worst in America, both in terms of degree (the number of people that don't accept science) and impact (the people in charge of the world's biggest economy are spending money on the wrong things).

Oh and *quality, 'cos eric is right.

Y'all need to hear this. (did I say that right? )

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by ChaosEngine.

Its like so many of these... the people who desperately need to listen to this won't turn off fox long enough to be bothered.

So, you can deny science when it comes to your agenda, but when scientists give you a computer that fits in your pocket that can make phone calls and magically stream videos of cats falling off of tables - no questions there.

Long, but related:
https://youtu.be/Fl1nJC3lvFs

*politics

Adding video to channels (Politics) - requested by Zawash.

"When you have an established, scientific, emerging truth, it is true whether or not you believe in it."

That is a basic statement of reason that many Americans cannot concede.

Most of us believe that basic facts about the universe, like where it came from, what causes consciousness, and if mortality is real can be asserted without evidence, and no one can ever tell you differently.

And if that's the case with the biggest questions, then certainly something less profound like "how does carbon affect the climate" is a matter of belief as well.

I love it when Neil gets angry.

I think this requires a NdGT hulking out meme...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Sift of the week.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

I love science.

Also good to remember that it's corruptible too. Despotic leaders get dissidents declared mentally ill.

Going farther back a kind of science brought us eugenics.

Science is often a victim of orthodoxy. Bad science becomes "common sense" way too easily. Just off the top of my head, telling parents not to feed their babies peanuts may have caused thousands of cases of peanut allergies. https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/04/14/960387/0/en/Pulling-the-Plug-on-Peanut-Allergy.html

The March for Science...ugh what a frontier we have before us.

*promote because.

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Wednesday, April 19th, 2017 2:22pm PDT - promote requested by BSR.

When science becomes political it becomes corrupted and hence discredited.

Global warmer/gender/ abortion are the best examples.

That is certainly what your ilk is hoping, and it is why they politicize any science they dislike in order to attempt to discredit it.
Sadly, so many don't have a grasp of the science and are so entrenched in their political team they simply take their lying spokesperson's word for the truth and never look for themselves...they couldn't understand if they did, they aren't scientists. (Neither are your spokespeople)

Climate change is a great example. You won't find a scientist who's a climate change denier that doesn't or hasn't gotten funding from energy corporations or their cohorts, often washed through donation companies to hide the source because they know it discredits them. What you apparently fail to grasp is the right is the group politicizing and confusing these issues, usually for monetary gain....sometimes over ancient divisive doctrine....never to reveal the "truth" or facts about a complex situation, that's simply not important to the right anymore, not a whit....I wonder if they're even capable of comprehending something complex anymore, certainly doesn't seem like it.

Being able to articulate what the scientific method is, and unambiguously, unfailingly supporting it across the board should be a litmus test for politicians.
Today, I expect >1/2 don't even know what a litmus test is.

If you can't pass a 7th grade biology class, can't tell an ion from a prion, or can't tell the difference between verified scientific fact and religious dogma, that should disqualify you from any form of leadership, from the pta to the presidency. Ruling from dogmatic ignorance is always a recipe for disaster.

noun: litmus

a dye obtained from certain lichens that is red under Republican conditions and blue under Democratic conditions.

Close, but reversed.
A proper political litmus strip shows red when viewed through democratically polarized filters and blue through filters polarized in the republican spectrum.
Ideas that display both pass the test.

*promote a good ole SOTW

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Wednesday, April 19th, 2017 2:22pm PDT - promote requested by newtboy.