Good News: Real scientists are gullible, dumb-asses just like the rest of us
Bad News: Real scientists are gullible, dumb-asses just like the rest of us
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Read here (h/t Bishop Hill). The elites of the world are amazingly gullible, and because of the "elite" consensus, they remain stuck-on-perpetual-stupidity. The never-ending financial meltdown and debt crisis that keeps disrupting the global economy is a clear indication of this phenomenon.
And it appears scientists are no different.
A recent experiment confirms that scientists, due to human nature, also prefer consensus and also prefer not rocking-the-boat - it's just too uncomfortable doing otherwise. These natural traits unfortunately lead to an unquestioning gullibility, and a stuck-on-stupid mentality by most scientists.
"We showed our film to 23 Imperial College science undergraduates...We told them we had made a film to expose a scientific controversy, and wanted their input on the ethical issues. None of the students noticed anything amiss. They accepted the ‘facts’ at face value, and discussed the ethics of the fictional scandal at length. A third of the students even felt strongly enough about the issue to raise it outside of class...Our hoax seemed a great success. Even those trained to think scientifically could be duped in a Sokal-like manner by familiar conventions, expectations and prejudices...We were left with a renewed respect for the Royal Society’s famous motto, ‘Nullius in Verba’ – ‘take nobody’s word for it’. Not even our own."
This hoax experiment sheds light on why so many scientists outside the field of climate science willingly accept the CO2-doomsday pronouncements of climate "scientists" whom possess no actual empirical evidence to support their hysterical predictions of climate catastrophe.
From this 'hoax' experiment we can sadly infer: that most scientists are no different than the rest of us; indeed, they too are intellectually lazy; they too willfully prefer (desire) authority; they too fail to challenge the perceived consensus; they too easily accept hearsay, anecdotal evidence; they too are naturally gullible; and surprise, they too are human.
As the authors of this experiment conclude: ‘Nullius in Verba’ - which basically translates into not even putting your blind faith in a trained scientist. Hey, as they say on TV, the best advice is "trust no one."
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Posted by: Fishing Charters Melbourne | July 10, 2012 at 02:39 AM
They were undergrads, not "scientists" by any stretch of the imagination. Sokal's "hoax" involved supposed experienced professionals. I've been a practicing engineer for over 30 years and still learn new things every day. The whole premise of this "experiment" is wrong. I'm not saying the results would be different if truly tried on experienced science, I'm just saying that isn't what was done in this case.
Posted by: Kerry | July 09, 2012 at 07:38 AM