Re:To an alarming degree, science is not self-correcting
by pdonis on Thursday October 17, 2013 @10:14PM
(#6569405)
so are hard STEM targets like cancer research.
Yes, that's true; I shouldn't have singled out social sciences.
what's with the capitalising of Science like it's some kind of club or organisation?
It's meant to convey the fact that climate scientists basically tell politicians "look, Science says you have to do X, Y, Z or we're doomed". They are claiming that their results are good enough to drive policy choices that have huge consequences, and politicians believe it because it's Science--they see it as the same as if astronomers came to them and said "look, we've calculated that asteroid A is going to hit the Earth unless we do X, Y, and Z; we've checked the numbers every which way and there's no other option." But climate science as a field is simply not accurate enough to justify that.
Yes, that's true; I shouldn't have singled out social sciences.
what's with the capitalising of Science like it's some kind of club or organisation?
It's meant to convey the fact that climate scientists basically tell politicians "look, Science says you have to do X, Y, Z or we're doomed". They are claiming that their results are good enough to drive policy choices that have huge consequences, and politicians believe it because it's Science--they see it as the same as if astronomers came to them and said "look, we've calculated that asteroid A is going to hit the Earth unless we do X, Y, and Z; we've checked the numbers every which way and there's no other option." But climate science as a field is simply not accurate enough to justify that.