The Problem of Junk Science

Exposing junk scientists:

Scientists are human like the rest of us, with their full complement of opinions and biases on all sorts of subjects not squarely in their field of expertise. And not surprisingly, a lot of them are happy to rely on their reputations as unbiased experts to promote political causes of one sort or another. In many cases, they don't even recognize what they are doing; they simply confuse what they know with what they want.

The current spectacular example, of course, is "global warming"... All serious proposed remedies for this supposed peril involve cutting down on economic activity. In the case of the United States...the Kyoto protocol (which this country refused to sign) would have required U.S. emissions of so-called "greenhouse gases" to be cut so much that "economic depression would have been the one sure result." That wouldn't bother the world's liberals and socialists much, of course, since they enjoy inconveniencing Uncle Sam. And many scientists (though by no means all) went along.

Another root cause of politically-driven science, of course, is funding. What do the people writing the check believe, (and thus want to hear reinforced). The combination of personal, institutional, and financial biases all combine to form a witch's brew of pseudo-science, from which springs such drivel as anthropogenic global warming "theory." Because the most important component of that brew is money, it is unfortunately a self-perpetuating problem which has to be destroyed at the roots -- a difficult proposition at best. The natural momentum imparted by hide-bound and budget-protective institutions simply exacerbates the problem.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, if something doesn't appear to make sense, just follow the money; things will quickly become clear.