Tag Archives: scientific controversy

“Teach” the “Controversy”

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Critical Thinking, Inquiry, Logic, scientific controversy

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I’ve written on the subject of scientific controversies several times in the past, and have even highlighted this particularly disgusting piece of nonsense (“teach the controversy”) more than once. But state legislatures are coming back into session, and already the push for ideology over inquiry is becoming manifest. Because right-wing ideologues devoid of any particle of intelligence or integrity insist on pushing this piece of manipulative idiocy, I am going to stand here in my little corner of the world and push back.Stooges-as-Scholars

I find the rhetoric behind this phrase especially monstrous. This is because the people who produce this nonsense have no interest in teaching, only in indoctrination; no grasp of controversy, only of ex cathedra declarations; no capacity for inquiry, only for the regurgitation of tediously fatuous twaddle. So let us explore for a moment what it is about this particular meme, “teach the controversy,” that is so singularly despicable. Continue reading →

Ooops?

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in scientific controversy

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So I’ve argued in three of the previous four posts (oh, just go look; I’m busy and I’m not going to repost links) that one of the signs that a so-called scientific controversy is really just bullsh!t is if it floats to the surface of popular consciousness. I may need to moderate that claim a bit, as it appears that one of my favorite examples is, in fact, surfacing. All this, without any significant influx of money from the fossil fuel industries to manufacture the appearance of controversy!

See, for example: http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2015/01/27/381809832/the-most-dangerous-ideas-in-science?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150127