We are living in a very dangerous time. The voices we hear every day are those of insane people. Yes I mean insane! They populate our government and are in control.
Scientists by their nature are careful people. Of course there may be a few exceptions, but on the whole as Michael Mann points out here
Climate Scientists are the Real Skeptics
Mann: Too often we allow the forces of anti-science, the forces of denialism, or contrarianism, to somehow frame their position as one of skepticism. But denying mainstream, well-established science based on arguments that don’t stand up scrutiny, that’s not skepticism. That’s pseudo-skepticism.
Real scientists embrace skepticism because that’s what moves science forward. That’s the self-correcting machinery, to use the language of Carl Sagan, which keeps science on this inexorable course toward a better understanding of the way the world works. If your ideas are wrong, if your theories are wrong, if they don’t hold up, if the data don’t support them, if other studies don’t come to the same conclusion, then science moves on, and it searches for a better answer. Scientists are always trying to find holes in each other’s proposed ideas, or in their own proposed ideas.
But there is more than one aspect to being careful. One can do harm by inactivity as well. Read on below and we can explore this more.
In recent years we have seen the harm too little activity can produce. According to
Mann: I wrote an op-ed in The New York Times earlier this year in which I made a very strong and impassioned plea to my fellow scientists to be willing to advocate for an informed public discourse. Not that they need to advocate for specific policies to deal with climate change, but to be willing to step up and participate in the larger public discourse over what we know about the scientific evidence.
Part of the reason for the attacks against me and other scientists who have participated prominently in the public discussion is to send a warning signal to other scientists who might think about speaking out. But if we don’t speak out, then we leave a vacuum in the discussion. And that vacuum will be filled by industry-funded disinformation — the anti-scientific claims of industry front groups and their paid advocates. All of society suffers if scientists are not willing to participate in this discussion.
Part of what makes me optimistic about the outlook for this larger discussion is that the younger generation of scientists seems far more engaged in outreach and communication. They’re far more likely to participate in social media and do what they have to to get their thoughts out into the public sphere.
There has to be active teaching of the public and it has to be steady and without apology.
Bernie Sanders as a politician has become a roll model for every sane voice in our society. There is no question that he has raised the level of consciousness in our nation. Yet he has barely scratched the surface.
In the realm of science we have a few very good spokesmen out there. We need more than spokespersons. We need every scientist to become active in making sure the public propaganda machine of the insane gets put in its place.
This nation will not survive the propaganda blitz it has been subjected to unless a very strong force counters it. This can not and must not be left to the politicians, even those like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. The voices of practicing scientists need to be heard.
We know the media are corrupt. We know they have been responsible for the misinformed public. We need to counter them. We need a means for getting exposure and for setting things straight.
Political donations have limits. There needs to be an organized public information campaign and it needs to be visible and effective. The time to sit back and wait for others to do what they have failed to do is over. The insanity must be exposed and sanity must prevail.