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Right, my fear with treating climate change as “settled, absolute, unquestionable wisdom” is that this puritanical attitude towards science potentially stymies

Right, my fear with treating climate change as “settled, absolute, unquestionable wisdom” is that this puritanical attitude towards science potentially stymies researchers from postulating radical new ideas, or prevents other researchers from taking radical ideas seriously. To be clear, anthropogenic climate change is definitely a thing, and those who say it isn’t are either gaslighting or being gaslit. But even though Newton was right, Einstein was “more right.” Could an Einstein exist in climate science today, going against the “Settled Science™?”

seoaeu 5y ago
So climate change deniers are engaging in gaslighting, but you don't think we should do anything to stop them... because maybe one of them stumbles on a scientific breakthrough?
- dlivingston 5y ago
  > So climate change deniers are engaging in gaslighting Sometimes. Oftentimes they have just been lied to by political or cultural institutions that they trust. > but you don't think we should do anything to stop them It greatly depends on the context. In the case of ads on Twitter, I have no opinion as I'm not familiar enough with the nuances of this action to make a judgement. > because maybe one of them stumbles on a scientific breakthrough That's a misreading of my comment. My point was that a serious climate scientist may be afraid of pushing past the boundaries for fear of going against the very real orthodoxy. The orthodoxy, by the way, is a social thing, not a science thing. Many scientists have gotten 'cancelled' by randos on Twitter for publishing standard research.
8note 5y ago
If you're proposing a radical idea via advertising, where are you getting the money to buy the ads from? Why are we limiting radical idea creation to the rich?
- dlivingston 5y ago
  Not sure what you mean. My comment wasn’t related directly to the Twitter news, if that’s what you’re referring to.

seoaeu 5y ago

So climate change deniers are engaging in gaslighting, but you don't think we should do anything to stop them... because maybe one of them stumbles on a scientific breakthrough?

dlivingston 5y ago
> So climate change deniers are engaging in gaslighting Sometimes. Oftentimes they have just been lied to by political or cultural institutions that they trust. > but you don't think we should do anything to stop them It greatly depends on the context. In the case of ads on Twitter, I have no opinion as I'm not familiar enough with the nuances of this action to make a judgement. > because maybe one of them stumbles on a scientific breakthrough That's a misreading of my comment. My point was that a serious climate scientist may be afraid of pushing past the boundaries for fear of going against the very real orthodoxy. The orthodoxy, by the way, is a social thing, not a science thing. Many scientists have gotten 'cancelled' by randos on Twitter for publishing standard research.

8note 5y ago

If you're proposing a radical idea via advertising, where are you getting the money to buy the ads from? Why are we limiting radical idea creation to the rich?

dlivingston 5y ago
Not sure what you mean. My comment wasn’t related directly to the Twitter news, if that’s what you’re referring to.