The author of the cartoon here conflates “capacity for critical thinking” and the “training to conduct scientific research,” even though they are two different things.
When it comes to space exploration, disease control, climate science, etc., all the critical thinking in the world is not going to get you one millimeter closer to the ability to draw your own conclusions. If you’re honest with yourself, you realize that it’s a good idea simply to ask the scientists in whatever domain interests you what they believe and why.
I’m reminded of the perfectly well-meaning suggestions I’ve received throughout the years that I conduct my own research into climate change. Flattering as it is, I’m no better equipped to do this than I am to perform open-heart surgery.
I’m perfectly comfortable knowing that thousands of honest, highly trained people, some of whom I have the pleasure of knowing personally, have made the study of climate change their life’s work, publish peer-reviewed papers on the subject, and make their conclusions available to me (and you).
If you think that makes me “gullible,” I don’t know what to say.
Social democracies are nations in which the tax base provides everyone with healthcare and education, and where the richest and most powerful people are not free to ruin the environment.
I run into someone from one of these counties a couple of times a month, and I like to ask why their people are consistently at the top of the World Happiness Rankings. The normal response is always some variant of the following:
It’s hard to be happy living in a society that is indifferent to the suffering of others. It’s part of the very nature of human beings to care about one another.
Something else I notice about these places is that very few people are religious. Sweden, e.g., is about 80% atheist.
That means no childish tribalism, no ridiculous dogmas, no worries about eternal damnation, etc.
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Ming Yang Firewalls Europe, US Turbine Orders Surge
Allen covers Ming Yang’s firewall from Beijing and Octopus Energy deal, US turbine orders hitting a three-year high, and Norway’s floating wind funding.
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There are so many tragic aspects to life in today’s United States that it’s hard to name them all.
For my money, one of the saddest elements to the American zeitgeist is its glorification of ignorance.
Up until recently, if you wanted to know what science believes about anthropology, climate change, or particle physics, you asked a scientist in the relevant discipline, who not only has a college degree, but normally a ton of education on top of that.
Now, you ask a congressional Republican, preferably, an evangelical Christian.
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