Victor Davis Hanson: The New War against Reason - Medieval heretic-hunters had nothing on...

National Review Online ^ | November 25, 2009 | Victor Davis Hanson

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

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[SunkenCiv]

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks neverdem. Have a great Thanksgiving. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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[PGalt]

Very good article by VDH and a very, very good thread. Thanks, neverdem. BTTT!

[Joe Brower]

So, in other words, we can take anything Puppet-president Obeyme says, and correctly infer he and his "fellow travellers" are doing the exact opposite.

Sounds like just another typical liberal fascist to me.

[nj patriot]

Try this on for size... Joe Biden (the dumbest man in Washington): “We may not know what we are doing, but we believe strongly in our plan.” WHAT!!!

[Popman]

bump

[Mike Darancette]

The AGW fraud didn’t begin under Obama but Obama is knowingly sanctioning it. Another in a long string of loser actions.

[ncpatriot]

We are in the Dark Ages

[Tolik]

 

  Ping !

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Links:   

FR Index of his articles:	http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/victordavishanson/index
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Pajamasmedia:	http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/
His website:	http://victorhanson.com/

[Tolik]

Thank you, my FRiend! All the best to you and your loved ones.

[dervish]

Climategate can be seen in the Religion of Evolution. Falsified science worshipped by a nature cult who have rejected God..

[AZLiberty]

Barack Obama promised us not only transparency, but also a new respect for science. In soothing tones, he asserted that his administration was “restoring scientific integrity to government decision-making.”

Instead, he joined Al Gore in bringing political prevarication to scientific decision-making.

[BroJoeK]

"Climategate can be seen in the Religion of Evolution. Falsified science worshipped by a nature cult who have rejected God.."

I've argued long and hard here that theories realted to evolution are "real science" -- confirmed by over 150 years of honest research and testing. By contrast, "intelligent design" or "scientific creationism" have been neither researched nor scientifically tested, but simply asserted.

However, evolution is not without its hoaxes -- "Piltdown Man" being the most notorious. Such a scandal brings the entire science into disrepute.

Now "man-made global warming" appears to be science's latest "Piltdown Man." Real science -- and real scientists -- need to condemn these people in the strongest possible scientific terms.

It's time for the science of "climate change" to go all the way back and start over at square one.

[dervish]

I don’t want to change the topic here, but I can’t agree on the honesty of evolution science.

There has been the same forces of repression toward skeptics and the evidence of interspecies change is wholly missing. The same religious fervor affects its proponents.

[BroJoeK]

"I don’t want to change the topic here"

But of course, you did change the subject -- by comparing "climate change" to evolution, and declaring both equally false.

"I can’t agree on the honesty of evolution science."

To suggest that every scientist out in the field digging up bones, or in labs studying evolutionary changes in DNA, is somehow professionally dishonest is, well, ludicrous.

"There has been the same forces of repression toward skeptics and the evidence of interspecies change is wholly missing."

There is no scientific evidence for "scientific creationism" or "intelligent design" -- none, zero, zip, nada. It is argument by assertion, pure and simple.

By contrast, normal scientific skepticism about various evolutionary process -- an off cited example is, how could an eye develop by random mutation and natural selection? -- is entirely appropriate, and actually occurs every day in science.

"The same religious fervor affects its proponents."

Religious fervor? Are you also an expert on religious fervor? And you can detect religious fervor in, what, the eyes of a scientist? Or is it in the way he or she waves their hands?

Do you see religious fervor in scientists supporting theories relating to evolution, and yet you detect NO such religious fervor in anyone claiming "scientific creationism" or "intelligent design"? Do these people seem to you entirely devoid of religious fervor?

The truth is that real science is not about religious fervor or dogmatic assertions. It is about collecting & analyzing data, suggesting and confirming or disproving hypotheses, publishing peer-reviewed findings, etc.

Theories relating to evolution have met this standard for over 150 years. Claims relating to "scientific creationism" or "intelligent design" have not. And now, it seems, neither has "Man-made global warming."

In the end, the Piltdown Man hoax -- which falsified a "missing link" between man & apes -- had no effect on theories of evolution because eventually there have been dozens of such links found by real scientists doing honest work.

And, possibly, "climate change" could end up the same way. But as of today there are far too many real scientists saying: wait! Not so fast. Go back to ground truth and start over with honest data. This tells me the issue is far from "settled science."

Nothing remotely resembling that has ever happened in scientific debates over evolution. Not even after the Piltdown Man hoax. Reason: too much other confirming evidence, and the lack of a viable alternate scientific explanation.