I never cease to be amazed how people cherry pick their information that confirms their biases. Yesterday, Fritz pointed out that apparently, as long as you write Jesus on your school assignments, then it doesnt matter if you do the assignment right or wrong, the conservative know-nothings will demand you get to pass. See, this girl didnt do her assignment correctly, so the teacher asked her to write about something else... but since her original subject was JESUS, the student got a free pass from the same kinds of people who get all hate-filled and ragey that modern parents are intervening in schools on behalf of their kids. They didnt care that the assignment had been done incorrectly, all they cared about was their perception that Jesus was under attack. Today, a friend who has posted pro-science articles in the past, posted a completely false image about the horrors of Monsanto Bt corn. The studies it includes have been thoroughly debunked, and the meme had gotten so prevalent that even Snopes had to step up and claim it was false. Strangely, this was couched just after a story about the recent discovery of the big bang gravity waves. When confronted, I was told that I just didnt understand... What was important was that Monsanto is bad, even if the information used to drive people to that conclusion wasnt factual. If you have your facts wrong, then the people who most need to hear your point are just going to ignore it. If you cant tell the truth, then why should anyone listen to what you have to say? Cherry-picking which science you want to believe is simple hypocrisy. The same tools that made our rockets reach the moon are used to understand how effective our vaccines are. The same science that determined the value of breast feeding shows the safety of aspartame. If you want to argue that the scientific consensus on Climate Change is of note, then you cant suddenly dismiss that same consensus on the safety of GMO foods. Theres a theory of evolution, true... but also a theory of gravity. Arbitrarily picking one side of any of these points then dismissing the other demonstrates a lack of consistent standards. If youll accept anecdotal evidence on vaccines, then why not astrology or alien abductions? If youll side with a single outlier study on aspartame, then why wont you believe the ones claiming the world isnt warming? And if mathematical models are so intolerable and devoid of merit, how on earth do you think we were able to make it to the moon and back so often? Either science works, or it doesnt.... and while there are some cases where science had a bad theory that survived peer-review, the sheer amount of scientific information published each year should demonstrate clearly how insignificant that needle is in the haystack of scientific discovery. At any given point in time, the best and most accurate way to find the best and most accurate knowledge is to search scientific, peer-reviewed literature. All your conspiracy theories and claims of Big So-and-So are inconsequential to the simple truth that scientists challenge and dismiss the bad theories more fervently and accurately than any blogger, journalist, or activist. Look to the evidence, and quit listening to the demagogues who want you to dismiss fact to promote fiction.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:44:34 +0000
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