Denialism
denialism | March 24, 2008This week I think I'm going to spend some time discussing denialism throughout history. In part inspired by the recent attacks on some of the most effective scientific communicators we have by by Mooney and Matthew Nisbet, and PalMD's post on some modern thinking by "ancients" I feel like it's time to provide some more historical context to debunking bullshit, and the long and honorable tradition of debunking by the world's greatest thinkers and communicators. We're going to start a little bit light with my nomination of Plato as history's first debunker.
You see, Plato had to deal with…
denialism | December 20, 2007Recently, it seems there has been a backlash against medicine and the current knowledge of the relationship between diet, weight and overall health. I don't actually believe this is directly the fault of scientists or doctors, who react to the trashy mainstream reporting of science with little more than the occasional raised eyebrow. However, many people in response to all these silly health pronouncements, which seemingly come from on high but really are from press coverage of often minor reports in the medical literature, have lost their trust in what science has to offer as a solution to…
choofnagle | November 19, 2007Although we discussed this issue earlier, I can't help to point to a new segment on 60 Minutes exploring the issue of whether big chain restaurants should have to disclose the amount of calories in their food products (Video).
The denialism from the industry on this issue is pretty clear, but what's interesting about the segment is the explanation of consumer biases that prevent the market forces from addressing this problem. One of the most basic forces here is optimism--consumers don't think bad things will happen to them, generally, and in this context, optimism translates into seriously…
denialism | October 24, 2007Orac has brought up the interesting point that debating the homeopaths at U. Conn might not be a good idea.
On a related note, in a post derriding attacks on consensus I was asked by commenters if isn't it incumbent on science to constantly respond to debate; to never let scientific questions be fully settled. And I understand where they're coming from. These ideas represent the enlightened ideals of scientific inquiry, free speech, and fundamental fairness.
However, they're also hopelessly misplaced in regard to the problem at hand. That is, denialists, cranks, quacks, etc., are not…
choofnagle | September 20, 2007Brian Krebs reports good news: Trans Union, one of the three major consumer reporting agencies, will offer all consumers the option to freeze their credit files in order to prevent identity theft:
A credit freeze directs the credit bureaus to block access to a consumer's credit report and credit score. At present, at least 39 states and the District of Columbia allow consumers to freeze their credit files, but many of those laws do not take effect until 2008 or 2009. TransUnion would be the first bureau to voluntarily offer freezes to consumers in all 50 states (and D.C.).
There's a lot to…
choofnagle | September 6, 2007In today's Journal, Robert Crandall and Hal Singer argue that America shouldn't drink the corporate average fuel economy standard (CAFE) Kool-Aid. Why? Well why do you think? Because the market is perfect and thus there is no problem! Bring on the Econ 101!
...if there was [sic] fuel-saving technology out there that cost $1,000 but generated $2,500 in the discounted present value of fuel savings over the life of the vehicle, carmakers would surely voluntarily embrace that technology...
No need for regulation there. With large numbers of vehicle producers and well-informed…
denialism | August 6, 2007Alert readers have brought to my attention two articles of interest to the study of denialism. First a big fat article in Newsweek entitled The Truth About Denial is a good overview of the anti-scientific crusade of conservative crank tanks to dispute global warming. It has a nice timeline of the development of the denialist movement in response to the unwanted science, examples of the cranks in congress that have latched onto and internalized the arguments that confirm what they want to hear, and their classic tactics of cherry-picking and confusing climate with weather.
The second, and I'…
denialism | July 5, 2007An alert reader noticed that when he performed a Google search on 'Sicko', guess who pops up in the sponsored links? Why, our good friends at AEI, a denialist organization second only to CEI, but since they have a lot of the same people working for both it's really just academic which one you're arguing with. When you need your crappy industry defended from public criticism, you can always rely on AEI or CEI to chomp at the bit and pretend there is "no problem".
What's even more interesting is that Google actually solicited ads (fixed link) to combat Sicko's bad PR for the insurance…
denialism | May 28, 2007Corpus Callosum points us to a review in science entitled Childhood Origins of Adult Resistance to Science (Chris at mixing memory also has coverage of the article). This is a perfect study to emphasize a critical aspect of denialism and crankery, that is, the central role the overvalued idea plays in the evolution of a crank.
Denialism, in a nutshell, is the rhetorical strategy used to protect an overvalued idea from things like facts and data. The denialist or crank is trying desperately to hold on to a concept that is important to their self-identity or ego, and is in conflict with…
choofnagle | May 24, 2007The Newhour had a debate tonight full of denialism provided by Paul Miller, former head of the American League of Lobbyists. It's an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how the lobbying tactics outlined in the Denialists' Deck of Cards can be employed to fight a proposal without really dealing with the merits of it.
The issue: lobbying reform in Washington that will ban certain gifts by lobbyists to Members, and will provide greater transparency on money provided by lobbyists. The legislation isn't perfect, but check out the tactics used by Miller to kill the proposal:
PAUL MILLER, Miller-…
denialism | May 21, 2007Who are the global Warming Denialists?
A tougher question is, in a discipline as complex as climate science, how do you tell who the legitimate skeptics (those that ignore the reporting at the Independent for instance) are versus who are the denialists?
Again, it's simple, because denialism is about tactics. Which global warming critics are the ones alleging conspiracies, cherry-picking data, and incessantly moving the goalposts? Which organizations hire these hacks to denigrate legitimate science?
The most obvious example of a hack anti-science global warming denialist would have to be…
denialism | May 19, 2007"Heliocentrism is an Atheist Doctrine".
I've just got to say, wow. I read it at first thinking, "hey, this is hysterical satire", then I read the comments and thought, "wow, these guys are dedicated - this is pure performance art!" Finally, I started going through the archives with a sinking feeling, "holy crap, these guys are for real."
I really think they've fallen for these cranks line about a fixed earth, and all I've got to say now is please, please, please tell everybody about this. If there ever was a better example of the universality of crank thinking, this is it, and of course…
denialism | May 17, 2007What kind of family value is lying? That's the foremost question in my mind when I consider the family values organizations that use false research, lies and denialism to justify their agenda of disparaging contraception, sex education, homosexuality, and exaggerating the dangers of abortion.
In light of Falwell's death, I thought it would be appropriate to advance the discussion of the use of denialist techniques to reinforce bigotry and an anti-feminist agenda in the name of family values.
I think a good starting point for the discussion of what a family values denialist looks like is Paul…
denialism | May 14, 2007"It's just murder...It's really just that simple."
-Anthony Fauci on the HIV/AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg
I think that one of the clearest examples of denialism, and of the harm that anti-scientific attitudes can have, is in HIV/AIDS denialism. But who in this day and age can continue to promote such a thoroughly absurd idea that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, and worse yet, actively discourage those infected with the virus from pursuing treatments that have been proven to extend life?
I'll tell you who. The denialists.
Any discussion of HIV/AIDS denialists has to start with Peter Duesberg who…