4 ms·

Probably a a good time to remember that nickb = pg (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152361 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152361), which also explains

by jerry5 18y ago

Probably a a good time to remember that nickb = pg (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152361 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152361), which also explains the spate of climate change denialism which swamps this otherwise largely sane site (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=242215 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=242215).

thaumaturgy 18y ago
nickb != pg; that little bit of confusion stems entirely from a silly April Fool's Day joke this year [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152464 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152464]. Unless you really think pg would have gone to the trouble of accessing his sock puppet account to congratulate himself and Jessica on their wedding day [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=205946 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=205946].
- jerry5 18y ago
  With all the ventriliquists that I have seen that's exactly the sort of thing their sock puppets do.
  - rms 18y ago
    ok it is kind of a funny meme but nickb is really not pg.
davidw 18y ago
Climate change - "for" or "against" - is not hacker news and that should be pointed out any time someone posts something about it.
axod 18y ago
Do people deny climate change? I don't think so. People are however very skeptical that it's all down to us humans. I'd say that's a sane viewpoint.
- jerry5 18y ago
  Some people do deny climate change. You will find plenty on the Internet. I for one found one in today's local newspaper, circulation ca. 1 million. The linked article stopped just short of explicitly denying climate change by calling climate change a "myth" and instead calls the consensus on climate change a myth. That people are skeptical is indeed down to us humans, and especially so to scientists like me who only come to a verdict after performing a lot of observations and pondering. In climate change politics however "climate change skeptic" is a euphemism for denialist.
  - hugh 18y ago
    The trouble with the word "denialist" is that it's not clear exactly what the denialist is denying. There are a bunch of different things which one could deny, ranging from the sensible-to-deny to the silly-to-deny.
    - jerry5 18y ago
      It is exactly clear what climate change denialists are denying: They are denying that humans should do something about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There are a number of different ways to 'implement' that denial, such as denying that climate change is happening in the first place or denying that humans are causing it, but it always leads to the same conclusion, and therefore - I am suspecting - always has the same motivation: Intellectual laziness, not wanting to rethink one's own lifestyle.
      - axod 18y ago
        I disagree passionately. I complete agree that the climate is changing. It could have devestating effects, but the idea that it's caused by us, is not backed up by evidence IMHO. There is a whole raft of evidence showing that co2 is released because the earth is hotter. There's evidence to show the 'green house effect' doesn't really do much. There's evidence to show direct correlation between sunspots, and the temperature on earth. To label people 'denialists' and 'intelectually lazy' is offensive. Of course we shouldn't use so much oil. We should be more efficient. But the reasons for blaming humanity for global warming are shady. More to do with money and power, and oppressing the third world. The "Global warming is caused by man" theory has turned into a religion instead of actually looking at the latest available evidence to make an informed decision. that is intelectually lazy.

by jerry5 18y ago

thaumaturgy 18y ago

nickb != pg; that little bit of confusion stems entirely from a silly April Fool's Day joke this year [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152464 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152464]. Unless you really think pg would have gone to the trouble of accessing his sock puppet account to congratulate himself and Jessica on their wedding day [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=205946 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=205946].

jerry5 18y ago
With all the ventriliquists that I have seen that's exactly the sort of thing their sock puppets do.
- rms 18y ago
  ok it is kind of a funny meme but nickb is really not pg.

davidw 18y ago

Climate change - "for" or "against" - is not hacker news and that should be pointed out any time someone posts something about it.

axod 18y ago

Do people deny climate change? I don't think so. People are however very skeptical that it's all down to us humans. I'd say that's a sane viewpoint.

jerry5 18y ago
Some people do deny climate change. You will find plenty on the Internet. I for one found one in today's local newspaper, circulation ca. 1 million. The linked article stopped just short of explicitly denying climate change by calling climate change a "myth" and instead calls the consensus on climate change a myth. That people are skeptical is indeed down to us humans, and especially so to scientists like me who only come to a verdict after performing a lot of observations and pondering. In climate change politics however "climate change skeptic" is a euphemism for denialist.
- hugh 18y ago
  The trouble with the word "denialist" is that it's not clear exactly what the denialist is denying. There are a bunch of different things which one could deny, ranging from the sensible-to-deny to the silly-to-deny.
  - jerry5 18y ago
    It is exactly clear what climate change denialists are denying: They are denying that humans should do something about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There are a number of different ways to 'implement' that denial, such as denying that climate change is happening in the first place or denying that humans are causing it, but it always leads to the same conclusion, and therefore - I am suspecting - always has the same motivation: Intellectual laziness, not wanting to rethink one's own lifestyle.
    - axod 18y ago
      I disagree passionately. I complete agree that the climate is changing. It could have devestating effects, but the idea that it's caused by us, is not backed up by evidence IMHO. There is a whole raft of evidence showing that co2 is released because the earth is hotter. There's evidence to show the 'green house effect' doesn't really do much. There's evidence to show direct correlation between sunspots, and the temperature on earth. To label people 'denialists' and 'intelectually lazy' is offensive. Of course we shouldn't use so much oil. We should be more efficient. But the reasons for blaming humanity for global warming are shady. More to do with money and power, and oppressing the third world. The "Global warming is caused by man" theory has turned into a religion instead of actually looking at the latest available evidence to make an informed decision. that is intelectually lazy.