The Hon. Julia Gillard, yesterday, explained that she accepts expert, scientific advice:
“The science is in, climate-change is real. The science is clear: man-made carbon pollution is making a difference to our planet and our climate. [...]“When I first met Ian Frazer, and he told me he had a cervical cancer vaccine that could cut the rates of cervical cancer for women and girls, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about cancer to second-guess what he was telling me was right.“He was right; he’s a scientist. We’ve got climate scientists here who are telling us exactly the same about the nature of global warming and the climate of our planet.”
What admirable deference to expertise!
Similarly, when I met William McBride and he told me that he could prove that Debendox caused birth defects, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about medicine or statistics to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s a renowned scientist, and wouldn’t manufacture data.
Likewise, when I met Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, and they told me that they had a method of producing power from table-top cold fusion, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about physics or electromagnetism or low-energy nuclear reactions to second-guess what they were telling me was right; they’re scientists, and wouldn’t deceive.
Comparably, when I met William Farr, and he told me that cholera was transmitted by air, and that there was a deadly concentration of miasmata near the banks of the Thames, and intimated that John Snow was a dangerous, denialist crackpot in the pay of big tobacco, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about epidemiology or the miasma theory to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s an assistant commissioner and a scientist, and couldn’t possibly be wrong.
Furthermore, when I met Tommaso Caccini, and he told me that he could prove that Galileo’s heretical letter on sunspots was demonstrably false, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about logic or theology or observation to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s a qualified expert, and wouldn’t err.
So too, when I met Claudius Ptolemaeus and he told me that he could accurately represent our geocentric universe as a set of nested spheres, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about astrology to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s a scientist, and couldn’t be mistaken.
They were all right. They are scientists. We have many experts here who are telling us exactly what we want to hear about the nature of things and the overwhelming necessity for the Government to heed only their expert advice. Nothing can go wrong.
UPDATE (7 June, 2011): Debendox, mentioned above was marketed in the US as Bendectin; see the comment by Tucci, below.
Likewise, when I met Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, and they told me that they had a method of producing power from table-top cold fusion, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about physics or electromagnetism or low-energy nuclear reactions to second-guess what they were telling me was right; they’re scientists, and wouldn’t deceive.
Comparably, when I met William Farr, and he told me that cholera was transmitted by air, and that there was a deadly concentration of miasmata near the banks of the Thames, and intimated that John Snow was a dangerous, denialist crackpot in the pay of big tobacco, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about epidemiology or the miasma theory to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s an assistant commissioner and a scientist, and couldn’t possibly be wrong.
Furthermore, when I met Tommaso Caccini, and he told me that he could prove that Galileo’s heretical letter on sunspots was demonstrably false, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about logic or theology or observation to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s a qualified expert, and wouldn’t err.
So too, when I met Claudius Ptolemaeus and he told me that he could accurately represent our geocentric universe as a set of nested spheres, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about astrology to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s a scientist, and couldn’t be mistaken.
They were all right. They are scientists. We have many experts here who are telling us exactly what we want to hear about the nature of things and the overwhelming necessity for the Government to heed only their expert advice. Nothing can go wrong.
UPDATE (7 June, 2011): Debendox, mentioned above was marketed in the US as Bendectin; see the comment by Tucci, below.
2 comments:
Excellent examples on the status of science through the ages, couldn't have done better myself.
"Debendox"? Oh, you mean Bendectin (pyridoxine and doxylamine).
Yeah, I used to prescribe that drug for my pregnant patients.
Until Melvin Belli and the rest of the ATLA feeding shysters used junk science in the courtrooms of America to rob Merrell Dow Pharma (the manufacturer) so viciously that the company withdrew it from the market "voluntarily" rather than at the behest of the FDA.
To this day, when hyperemesis gravidarum develops, we've got a choice between precisely nothing at all and the parenteral antiemetic drugs devised for the management of patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
And those are used "off-label" (though they've had to become standard of care) because no pharmaceuticals company is ever going to test them in pregnant study subjects in order to gain the FDA's formal marketing approval as safe and effective.
For the past couple of decades, I've had people wondering why kindly old Doc hates the living guts of the "Cargo Cult Science" charlatans peddling the anthropogenic global warming fraud.
Tsk. As if those of us in the sawbones racket haven't seen more than our fair share of scientific quackery, and can't tell when it's being drizzled on us.
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