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Or maybe these Republicans went to college, saw how politicized the science departments were on their campuses, and instead of shrugging it off, realized that s

Or maybe these Republicans went to college, saw how politicized the science departments were on their campuses, and instead of shrugging it off, realized that scientists are prone to mistakes and misleading just like everyone else, and so their claims should be taken with a grain of salt, just like those of everyone else. I fall into that camp. My time in college impressed upon me how human and fallible the academy is. I went in thinking "professors" had all the answers. Then I met enough people who were stealing funds, sleeping with students, lazily grading papers, exploiting free labor and jealously hording grant money, that I realized these were just people, prone to the same errors in judgment that everyone else deals with.

anthonyb 16y ago
Or maybe these Republicans are personally invested in a particular ideology, and anything which threatens that ideology triggers the monkey brain's fear-of-other and must be destroyed. Much like you're trying to do by insinuating that all scientists/professors are lazy, greedy, exploitative thieves who shag their students.
MichaelSalib 16y ago
I realized these were just people, prone to the same errors in judgment that everyone else deals with. I don't understand how this is relevant to the discussion. No one has ever claimed that scientists are all-knowing or super-human or somehow not subject to the cognitive defects endemic to all human brains. But just because scientists are human and make mistakes does not mean that their claims about scientific matters are wrong. I mean, my attorney is a human guy who makes typical human mistakes, but when it comes to giving me legal advice, he's a hell of a lot better than the average person. His expertise is beneficial even though he sometimes forgets things or gets confused or gets angry or suffers from status quo bias. All those problems mean that I should exercise some judgment while considering his advice, but statistically, his advice is still much better than what I could come up with on my own.

anthonyb 16y ago

Or maybe these Republicans are personally invested in a particular ideology, and anything which threatens that ideology triggers the monkey brain's fear-of-other and must be destroyed. Much like you're trying to do by insinuating that all scientists/professors are lazy, greedy, exploitative thieves who shag their students.

MichaelSalib 16y ago

I realized these were just people, prone to the same errors in judgment that everyone else deals with. I don't understand how this is relevant to the discussion. No one has ever claimed that scientists are all-knowing or super-human or somehow not subject to the cognitive defects endemic to all human brains. But just because scientists are human and make mistakes does not mean that their claims about scientific matters are wrong. I mean, my attorney is a human guy who makes typical human mistakes, but when it comes to giving me legal advice, he's a hell of a lot better than the average person. His expertise is beneficial even though he sometimes forgets things or gets confused or gets angry or suffers from status quo bias. All those problems mean that I should exercise some judgment while considering his advice, but statistically, his advice is still much better than what I could come up with on my own.