3 ms·

> Even the crotchetiest and most out-of-touch people I know basically accept that the Earth is warming now Same. Empirical evidence is just too hard to ignore.

> Even the crotchetiest and most out-of-touch people I know basically accept that the Earth is warming now Same. Empirical evidence is just too hard to ignore. It's quite amazing watching the "climate change isn't real" folks transition to "climate change is no big deal", then to "climate change is too hard/expensive to deal with".

darylteo 8mo ago
something something tilt of the earth.
junofan 8mo ago
Unaudited empirical evidence is easy to ignore. The problem is one of physics. It should be simple to show with napkin math.
pstuart 8mo ago
Playbook is The Narcissist's Prayer That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.
- datsci_est_2015 8mo ago
  Narcissism is America’s greatest vice, imo. Not surprising to see it take center stage on what may be the nation’s greatest challenge: ensuring our future in the face of climate change.
gzread 8mo ago
Reminds me a bit of the Narcissist's Prayer: That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.
georgemcbay 8mo ago
> It's quite amazing watching the "climate change isn't real" folks transition to "climate change is no big deal", then to "climate change is too hard/expensive to deal with". At the top level (of government and corporate entities) those people always knew it was real, the messaging just changed as it became harder to keep a straight face while parroting the previous message in the face of overwhelming empirical evidence. Exxon's (internal) research in the 1970s has been very accurate to the observed reality since then. They just didn't care that it was real because they valued profits/power/etc in the moment over some difficult to quantify (but certainly not good) future calamity. You would think they would care at least in the cases where they had children and grandchildren who will someday have to really reckon with the outcome, but you'd be wrong, they (still) don't give a shit.
legitster 8mo ago
> Empirical evidence is just too hard to ignore. Except it's the opposite - empirical evidence is very easy to ignore. Between herding, the replication crisis, and the overall insularity of academia, trust in "studies" has never been lower. But people still respond very well to demonstrative or pragmatic evidence. Empirically there's nothing special about a keto diet. But demonstratively the effects are very convincing.
- justin66 8mo ago
  People who know anything about the replication crisis are a single-digit percentage of the population. Doesn't help explain the public's attitudes.
  - mvdtnz 8mo ago
    People just lived through a crisis in which public health officials were telling them to avoid a deadly virus by using glory holes[0]. Skepticism of institutions is at an all time high for good reason. [0] https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/23/health-officials-recommend-glory-holes-safe-sex-pandemic-13028334/ https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/23/health-officials-recommend-gl...
    - justin66 8mo ago
      Thanks for that reminder of some cultural differences (!) between us and our friends across the pond. Hopefully it goes without saying, that rather colorful example is a few steps removed from the replication crisis, although the point about governing institutions spending their credibility in poor ways is taken.
      - johsole 8mo ago
        The US had a version of this as well. At the height of lockdowns and social distancing a lot of health officials were saying protesting racial injustice was more important than Covid 19, which we closed a lot of businesses for. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/public-health-protests-301534 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/public-hea...

darylteo 8mo ago

something something tilt of the earth.

junofan 8mo ago

Unaudited empirical evidence is easy to ignore. The problem is one of physics. It should be simple to show with napkin math.

pstuart 8mo ago

Playbook is The Narcissist's Prayer That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.

datsci_est_2015 8mo ago
Narcissism is America’s greatest vice, imo. Not surprising to see it take center stage on what may be the nation’s greatest challenge: ensuring our future in the face of climate change.

gzread 8mo ago

Reminds me a bit of the Narcissist's Prayer: That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.

georgemcbay 8mo ago

> It's quite amazing watching the "climate change isn't real" folks transition to "climate change is no big deal", then to "climate change is too hard/expensive to deal with". At the top level (of government and corporate entities) those people always knew it was real, the messaging just changed as it became harder to keep a straight face while parroting the previous message in the face of overwhelming empirical evidence. Exxon's (internal) research in the 1970s has been very accurate to the observed reality since then. They just didn't care that it was real because they valued profits/power/etc in the moment over some difficult to quantify (but certainly not good) future calamity. You would think they would care at least in the cases where they had children and grandchildren who will someday have to really reckon with the outcome, but you'd be wrong, they (still) don't give a shit.

legitster 8mo ago

> Empirical evidence is just too hard to ignore. Except it's the opposite - empirical evidence is very easy to ignore. Between herding, the replication crisis, and the overall insularity of academia, trust in "studies" has never been lower. But people still respond very well to demonstrative or pragmatic evidence. Empirically there's nothing special about a keto diet. But demonstratively the effects are very convincing.

justin66 8mo ago
People who know anything about the replication crisis are a single-digit percentage of the population. Doesn't help explain the public's attitudes.
- mvdtnz 8mo ago
  People just lived through a crisis in which public health officials were telling them to avoid a deadly virus by using glory holes[0]. Skepticism of institutions is at an all time high for good reason. [0] https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/23/health-officials-recommend-glory-holes-safe-sex-pandemic-13028334/ https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/23/health-officials-recommend-gl...
  - justin66 8mo ago
    Thanks for that reminder of some cultural differences (!) between us and our friends across the pond. Hopefully it goes without saying, that rather colorful example is a few steps removed from the replication crisis, although the point about governing institutions spending their credibility in poor ways is taken.
    - johsole 8mo ago
      The US had a version of this as well. At the height of lockdowns and social distancing a lot of health officials were saying protesting racial injustice was more important than Covid 19, which we closed a lot of businesses for. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/public-health-protests-301534 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/public-hea...