sci-ence |ˈsīəns|nounthe intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment : the world of science and technology.• a particular area of this : veterinary science | the agricultural sciences.• a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject : the science of criminology.• archaic knowledge of any kind.ORIGIN Middle English (denoting knowledge): from Old French, from Latin scientia, from scire ‘know.’de-ni-al |diˈnīəl|nounthe action of declaring something to be untrue : she shook her head in denial.• the refusal of something requested or desired : the denial of insurance to people with certain medical conditions.• a statement that something is not true : official denials | his denial that he was having an affair.• Psychology failure to acknowledge an unacceptable truth or emotion or to admit it into consciousness, used as a defense mechanism : you're living in denial.• short for self-denial .• disavowal of a person as one's leader.* * *In case you missed it, science has replaced liberal as the whipping boy for right-wing politicians. The let the market decide crowd now cultivates ignorance as a virtue and dismisses evidence which contradicts their ide-illogical beliefs.Calling themselves patriots, they launch into the same divide and conquer strategy their philosophical forebears employed to preserve slavery, prevent laborers from forming unions, keep women from voting, and generally to oppose any and all efforts by or on behalf of the general citizenry to actualize the equality and unalienable Rights promised to them in the Declaration of Independence.Their goal is now, and always has been, to legally enslave the people who perform the essential tasks which create wealth in society and turn them into chattel belonging to the effete cadre of tax-sheltered beneficiaries of their labor. To further this agenda, Republicans have adopted George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four as a blueprint for amassing power with newspeak serving as the propaganda engine of their modus operandi. Witness their recent efforts to label the former group takers and the latter makers.In a blatant paean to Orwellian newspeak, Republican politicians preface every anti-science rant with the disingenuous caveat I'm not a scientist before denying in lockstep the overwhelming body of scientific evidence indicating that climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels poses a real and impending danger to humanity.Here is an excerpt from an article written by Jonathan Chait and published in the Daily Intelligencer, which examines the utility of this preface.
Why Do Republicans Always Say ‘I’m Not a Scientist’?
“I’m not a scientist” allows Republicans to avoid conceding the legitimacy of climate science while also avoiding the political downside of openly branding themselves as haters of science. The beauty of the line is that it implicitly concedes that scientists possess real expertise, while simultaneously allowing you to ignore that expertise altogether.
This week's collection focuses on the efforts of the GOP to deny inconvenient scientific fact in the service of an inflexible ideology. It will also examine possible consequences facing us should their newspeak replace logic and rational thought in addressing the problem of climate change.
1. Meaningful climate change legislation? It's an uphill battle.
Link to Source
2. Prescience (no crystal ball required to see this, just common sense)
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1. Meaningful climate change legislation? It's an uphill battle.
Scientific research often uncovers information about our world that challenges long-held beliefs, many of which are supposed to have come from God. As a result, any scientific discovery which presents a compelling case for a change of behavior within a self-governing society encounters strong resistance from a sizable block of the electorate. In America, that block resides primarily within the ranks of the Republican party and comprises the portion thereof known as the base.
The primary goal of politicians is to win elections, and to do that Republicans needs must curry favor with the base. As a result, when climate change legislation is introduced, they are predisposed to side with a block of voters who deny scientific evidence on the baseless notion that science is anathema to religion. To such people, religion is not a dialog with one's Creator in an attempt to seek His will and guidance in a growing and developing relationship. Instead, it is an edict from the Creator to follow without question a specific, rigid interpretation of what they believe to be His explicit words.
This is the political dynamic which currently stymies meaningful debate and blocks any legislation attempting to address the emerging, burgeoning, and very real problems irrefutably attributable to climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Instead of seeking solutions based on an overwhelming body of evidence, science deniers trust to luck and play Russian roulette with the future survival of our species.
An old saying states that God helps those who help themselves. Today in America, there is an urgent need for science deniers and their political toadies to take that saying to heart.
2. Prescience (no crystal ball required to see this, just common sense)
This would appear to be where America is headed if we continue to elect "luminaries" like Louie Gohmert and his “I’m not a scientist.” anti-intellectual, right-wing pals and give them the reins of government.
I believe the fine print on the flying contraption says Made in China.
3. The Legacy of Climate Change Denial - AWithered and Fruitless Harvest
4. The Corporate Behind Science Denial and Right-Wing Politics
...and the beatings will stop when morale improves.
5. The GOP's Faith-Based Solution to Global Warming
And thanks to their anti-science energy policies, it's acid rain.
6. When Denial Meets Reality - Time to Rebrand!
Although not strictly science denial, the GOP was mired in deep denial about the Affordable Care Act. Those dire, Republican warnings about death panels and the inevitable collapse of the healthcare system were nothing but baseless, political propaganda.
Republicans offered no data to back up their claims then, and they offer none when they assail climate change science today.
Why on earth would any thinking American believe them when they say they've changed, let alone vote for them in November?
7. The Profit Motive (Tanks for Your Support)
8. Science illiteracy is for the birds. Nonetheless, Republicans flock to it.
FYI: The average body temperature of birds is around 105 degrees Farenheit. Scientific facts like this are quite easy to check, thanks be to Google and the benefits of net neutrality.
Perhaps that's why corporations and GOP privatization zealots are hot to end net neutrality and turn the internet, developed with taxpayer dollars, into a cash cow for corporations. Ending net neutrality would give corporations the power to limit free speech by denying access to data deemed by them to be harmful to their interests.
Politically, ending net neutrality would be a major victory for the ideologues who promote ignorance as a virtue in order to manipulate the electorate into voting against their own best interests.
9. System Reboot
The potential for species annihilation due to catastrophic climate change is not fantasy. It has happened before on Earth, and many climatologists believe that increased melting of permafrost in the Arctic may set off a methane time bomb, which in turn might trigger such a catastrophy.
10. Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) failed this test...repeatedly.
If you think I'm picking on Rep. Gohmert unfairly, click here to read about some of the idiotic things he has said and done.
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