Watching the Deniers: holding sceptics to account
Watching The Deniers is a blog put together by an Aussie who like many others has watched the climate debate in the popular press with growing dismay.
Mike considers himself a skeptic: "I believe any claim about the world we live in requires evidence. In my mind, the methodology of “science” is the best way to determine facts about the world we live in”."
On his site he lists six aspects of denial. (Adopted from Sean B. Carroll’s book “The Making of the fittest”.)
I’ll be using this framework to “tag” or categorize the type of arguments used by the denial movement in all future posts. In this I’ll be taking a leaf from the wonderful work that John Cook has done at Skeptical Science.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope this framework helps people understands the flawed logic behind many of the arguments used by the denial movement.
1. Doubt the science –
2. Question the motives and integrity of scientists –
3. Magnify disagreements among scientists and cite gadflies –
4. Exaggerate potential harm –
5. Appeal to personal freedom –
6. Acceptance repudiates key philosophy –
Beyond that, I want to bring attention to his posts regarding "Abraham v. Monckton," and various other critiques of Lord Christopher Monckton's dog and pony show,
"The Cautionary Tale of Lord Monckton: from Rising Star to Smoldering Deep Impact Crater"
I'm also proud that Mike has decided to print one of my Abraham v. Monckton essays as a guest blog.
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