Month: September 2022

RISK ASSESSMENT is managing the posibility of a Black Swan event, which would be a catastrophic event, such as the worst outcome of climate change. When the experimental outcome is not possible to know in advance, the prudent course is precaution. View in LinkedIn

EXAMPLE OF JUNK SCIENCE CLAIM. “Only desperate climate alarmists would have the gall to suggest the IPCC produces ‘conservative’ estimates of climate change in light of a growing mountain of evidence that the IPCC actually exaggerates potential climate change." (Pat Michaels, director of Cato’s Center for the Study of Science). http://lnkd.in/dRVUJXc View in LinkedIn

FOX NEWS CITES JUNK SCIENCE: "Top Ten Junk Science Stories of the Past Decade." These include the toxicity of dioxin, pesticides and PCB hormone disrupters, acrylamide in chips, and global warming. http://lnkd.in/dxmJx6H View in LinkedIn

JUNK SCIENCE. "The vilification of threatening research as "junk science" and the corresponding sanctification of industry-commissioned research as "sound science" has become nothing less than standard operating procedure." http://lnkd.in/dNgQcXG View in LinkedIn

PROOF LACKING. "Since no such proof is possible [that genetically modified food is harmless], the article in The New York Times was what is called a "bad rap" against the U.S. Department of Agriculture—a bad rap based on a junk-science belief that it's possible to prove a null hypothesis." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_science View in LinkedIn

"THE NULL HYPOTHESIS refers to a general statement or default position that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena. Rejecting or disproving the null hypothesis ... is a central task in the modern practice of science, and gives a precise sense in which a claim is capable of being proven false." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_hypothesis View in LinkedIn

TRUST US. "The concept of junk science has come to be invoked in attempts to dismiss scientific findings that stand in the way of short-term corporate profits. In their book Trust Us, We're Experts (2001), they write that industries (launched campaigns) to position certain theories as junk science in the popular mind, often failing to employ the scientific method themselves." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_science View in LinkedIn

"STEVEN J MILLOY is a commentator for Fox News and runs the Web site junkscience.com ... he believes to be false claims regarding DDT, global warming, Alar, breast implants, secondhand smoke, ozone depletion, and mad cow disease. Milloy's close financial and organizational ties to tobacco and oil companies have been the subject of criticism." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Milloy View in LinkedIn

NO ABSOLUTE PROOF. "Better use of the precautionary principle, the acceptance of sufficient but not absolute proof, is another way to accelerate decision making ... Doubt Is Their Product is a powerful argument for the need to reinforce our ethical responsibilities to protect human and environmental health even when it requires regulation and increased costs." http://lnkd.in/d9een2b View in LinkedIn

THE IRAQ WAR is a vivid recent example of a Black Swan possibility (catastrophic event) and the extreme use of (manufactured) "precaution" to go after supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), knowing that not all the facts were in hand. It is also an example of extreme "spin" used to support an unsubstantiated position. I give it as a contextual example of where our culture is today. " "11-11 View in LinkedIn