Monthly Archives: June 2011

Polemics, Politics, and Problematizations

Posted on June 6, 2011 by | 111 comments

by Judith Curry

While working on my null hypothesis essay, I encountered this interview with Michel Foucault shortly before his death, entitled “Polemics, Politics, and Problemizations.”

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111 Comments

Posted in Sociology of science

Towards sane policies on natural disasters

Posted on June 5, 2011 by | 434 comments

by Judith Curry

The issue of whether or not global  climate change is causing more frequent or intense natural disasters is a red herring that is interfering with developing sane policies for reducing our vulnerability to natural disasters.

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434 Comments

Posted in Policy

When Scientists Advise Politicians

Posted on June 3, 2011 by | 125 comments

by Judith Curry

Bishop Hill spotted an essay with the title of this post that was published in Science and Public Affairs (UK).  The essay is written by Lord William Waldegrave, who is an investment banker and former Cabinet Minister. He is Chairman of the trustees of the Science Museum and President of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. This article is based on a talk he gave  at the Royal Institution in 2003.

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125 Comments

Posted in Policy

Doubt, uncertainty and ignorance

Posted on June 2, 2011 by | 316 comments

by Judith Curry

The word “doubt” has a bad connotation in the climate debate owing to the merchants of doubt meme.  Richard Feynman puts the word “doubt”  into the appropriate perspective in the context of science:

When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty damn sure of what the result is going to be, he is still in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress, we must recognize our ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain. 

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316 Comments

Posted in Uncertainty

Is Extreme Weather Linked to Global Warming?

Posted on June 2, 2011 by | 296 comments

by Judith Curry

Yale Environment 360 has just posted  a  forum with the same title as this post. I along with 7 other scientists provided a 250 word response to the question:

Do you think there is growing evidence that human-caused global warming is contributing to an increased incidence of extreme weather ?

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296 Comments

Posted in Attribution

Making the lukewarmer case

Posted on June 1, 2011 by | 398 comments

by Judith Curry

Many skeptics have attempted to lay out their arguments in a broad sense for the broader public, presumably hoping to convince the uninformed or the weakly convinced.  There are books, booklets, ppt presentations, youtube videos.  While these may inform people that are already skeptical, and maybe catch the attention of the uninformed, I suspect that the do not make much if any headway in convincing to be skeptical those that are already convinced.

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398 Comments

Posted in Skeptics