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MCourtney
Thanks for teasing that out. I hope you leave a comment under the article there.
My two comments at the end of the thread there are about the article Cook cites to support his key concept: the “Backfire Effect”, by which he means the tendency for people's views to be reinforced by counterarguments. It took me three minutes to find and read the abstract. It's a forty-year-old survey of fifty female students at the University of Kansas. It seems they were asked their religious beliefs, and exposed (or not) to information about Jesus's resurrection. This information was false. Apparently believers tended to react to the information by strengthening their belief. And it's on the basis of this that Cook has erected his university course on the psychology of deniers.
Either Cook never read the paper he cites and so doesn't realise it's garbage, or he did, and he doesn't care.
geoffchambers
Apr 30, 2015 at 7:52 AM | Registered Commenter geoffchambers
Form your linked article at the Conversation.
http://theconversation.com/inoculating-against-science-denial-40465
Half a century of research into inoculation theory has found that the way to neutralise misinformation is to expose people to a weak form of the misinformation. The way to achieve this is to explain the fallacy employed by the myth. Once people understand the techniques used to distort the science, they can reconcile the myth with the fact.
So in other words, inoculation theory involves using a strawman argument.
Make a simplistic parody of the argument you disagree with
Get people to agree that's ridiculous.
And thus the argument you disagree with also seems ridiculous.
It works but it doesn't educate. It misleads.
MCourtney
>“This course will give you the tools to identify, understand and respond to climate facts and climate myths,” Cook says.
The only tool they really need is empirical evidence, but of course, if he had that, there wouldn't be quite so many sceptics...
jamesp
Oh no - John Prescott expresses 'grave concern' about Japan's climate plans: LINK That really puts the pressure on PM Shinzo Abe.
Robin Guenier
I lost someones good post I spotted. When we started talking about Africa, some really set the context by posting the number of real disease deaths etc.. but I can't find that post ..did anyone see it ?
That Sciam page smearing Nic Lewis has been updated "Correction: A previous version of this story did not accurately reflect Lewis' work. Lewis used Stevens' study in an analysis that was used by some media outlets to throw doubt on global warming."
- The update is half stealth as it is not dated nor clear what has changed
original I can't see the actual text change cos it's not in the top of page or the bottom one either.
on 27/28th I left a comment linking to Nic Lewis's Climate-Audit post ..but they have now deleted my comment
stewgreen
Only eight commenters so far at the Press Gazette article on the Nazi style artwork.
I choose the word with care. Works of art are meant to make you stop and think.
The memorial format recalls memorials to the victims of horrible crimes, the engine oil dripping over their names recalls the desecration of such memorials. The people named - some of them getting on a bit - are referred to in the past tense, as if already dead. The artist refers to them as criminals, and finally, there's the word “denier”.
It's a profound work, and the artist is clearly profoundly confused, as is the academic who praises it.
geoffchambers
Thinking about how to contribute to relief in Nepal but avoiding the usual charities mentioned below. I read this CNN (no I don't usually) article about the contributions in money and personnel by various countries - Helping Nepal Scroll down to see a graph of the help given.
Israel (as usual) is way ahead of everyone else sending nearly as many people as the rest combined!
Perhaps I should see if they accept donations.
P.S. Watch out for the stories of organ harvesting (a la Haiti) - we all know that Israelis are evil (not).
David Jones
The BBC et al always ramp up the BS before a climate conference, nothing to see here. Nobody cares, anyway.
TheBigYinJames
Artwork or Intimidation of Journalists or both ? I guess is question Press Gazette asks .
There are 2 ways to debate 1. tackle your opponents arguments or 2. just sneer at them.
And that is the difference between this artwork and a normal witty cartoon, cos it is just witless intimidation as it sneers at the people without tackling their arguments.
Whilst artistic expression should be free, we are entitled to have an opinion about it. And if the Iranian gov funded an artwork memorizing Kate Adie & Jon Snow as imperialist enemies of the people, we'd have a low opinion about their bullying attitude. So Ruskin's awarding the prize is a warmis big own goal.
...............................................
Come one Geoff, warmist PR people vastly distorting numbers ..I've never heard of that ..the cynical b%stards
stewgreen
geoffchambers, whether he read it or not, he doesn't care.
He looks for what works not what is true.
And what works is whatever is persuasive.
SkS is not an opinion site, officially. It claims the authority of news about science. But it is an opinion site, right?
He has a record.