I have no time at present to check the detail of all the information provided in newspaper articles and am particularly unable, when reading a newspaper report, to check the quality and veracity of the interpretation of what actually happened.
I do know, however, and have evidence to back it up, that the scientific community is quite capable of identifying breaches of ethics, reporting them, and taking appropriate measures to repair the damage. One need but go through the past several years of Nature and Science to find the various instances in which published papers were retracted, sometimes at the request of the researchers themselves when they found that something had gone wrong in carrying out their research, sometimes following the discovery of deliberate fraud. I know few other areas of human endeavor where such rigorous self-control within the community exists. Typically, newspapers, whatever their high quality from on investigative journalism point of view may be, should not be considered reliable sources for validation. The final validation of recognized error or established committed fraud is still best done by the scientific community itself. I thus look forward to reading about the outcome of such processes in the relevant scientific literature. On the basis of what I know so far (and knew already before this conversation started), there is reason to be alert to the possibility that the mix of politics, science, and corporate interest that surrounds climate change, in addition to the propensity in humans (members of the general public) to wish to believe what they already believe, may potentially lead to biased research and even fraud (as well as to advocacy that is based on erroneous interpretation of scientific findings and conclusions). Alertness to such dangers has always been a key ingredient of the collective mindset within the scientific community. In some cases the danger is more prominent and more obviously present than in others. Investigative journalism plays a role, though, just as it does in politics. It is sometimes at the origin of identifying fraud. Besides, newspapers, when they have good science reporters on their staff, also play a great role in bringing the results of research and their societal implications to the attention of their readership. So, wait till the Times reports on what eventually appears in the relevant literature and then check the newspaper report against the cited literature if, as a scientist, you want to help the public understand the issues well and are thus willing to write letters to the editor to back up or challenge the reporting. Validity of what is offered in an open environment like WE is very important from an educational point of view. Users of WE must be able to trust that the utmost has been done to ensure the validity of what they get offered. In saying so, I am assuming that the WE audience has insufficient prior knowledge to make the validity judgments themselves. If that assumption is wrong, then we should perhaps clearly state upfront (on the WE home page) what we expect our target audience to be capable of. We should certainly have internal agreement on it. This may be worth some debate, if it is not already entirely obvious. Jan -- Jan Visser, Ph.D. President & Sr. Researcher, Learning Development Institute E-mail: [email protected] Check out: http://www.learndev.org and http://www.facebook.com/learndev Blog: http://jvisser-ldi.blogspot.com/ -----Original Message----- From: Edward Cherlin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 11:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Denialism (was Re: [WikiEducator] Phil's Rants) OK, but not until I get up tomorrow morning. On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 02:34, NELLIE DEUTSCH <[email protected]> wrote: > Edward, > Let's stop speculating and let's start moving. We can always edit and make > changes; after all that's the wiki way on WikiEducator. > Warm wishes, > Nellie Deutsch > Sharing is Caring! > Doctoral Student > Educational Leadership > Curriculum and Instruction > Integrating Technology for Active Life-long Learning (IT4ALL) > http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd > Get ready for CO10 at WiZiQ: http://connecting-online.ning.com/ > Free online workshops using WiZiQ: http://www.wikieducator.org/Workshops > > > On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 2:24 AM, Edward Cherlin <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 01:31, Steven Parker <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Alot of passionate opinion here, alot has been shared, to get back to >> > the point I was originally making that contentious issues need a >> > platform with 'Climategate' as an example for those who are still >> > interested in what's happening. >> >> Every element of this story is contradicted by other stories. I think >> we can agree that at least one side is lying or deluded. Now we have >> to determine which. How would you suggest we go about it? We could set >> up a set of Wiki pages for the facts, the charges and countercharges, >> and how we might teach this controversy. >> >> > The Telegraph and Times have published this article on the University >> > of East Anglia destroying the climate data for the past 150 years upon >> > being pressed under the Freedom of Information act. Pretty shocking to >> > me that this has occurred preventing other scientists to verify the >> > results. >> > >> > Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation >> > Our hopelessly compromised scientific establishment cannot be allowed >> > to get away with the Climategate whitewash, says Christopher Booker. >> > >> > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/6679082/Climate-change-this-is-the-worst-scientific-scandal-of-our-generation.html >> > >> > Climate change data dumped >> > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6936328.ece >> >> "The data were gathered from weather stations around the world and >> then adjusted to take account of variables in the way they were >> collected. The revised figures were kept, but the originals — stored >> on paper and magnetic tape — were dumped to save space when the CRU >> moved to a new building." >> >> Do you think they are lying? >> >> > “The CRU is basically saying, ‘Trust us’. So much for settling >> > questions and resolving debates with science,” he said." >> > >> > "(Jones) He and his colleagues say this temperature rise is >> > “unequivocally” linked to greenhouse gas emissions generated by >> > humans. Their findings are one of the main pieces of evidence used by >> > the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which says global >> > warming is a threat to humanity." >> > >> > Also other IPCC scientists are turning on each other. Dr. Eduardo >> > Zorita writes: “CRU files: Why I think that Michael Mann (Of Hockey >> > Stick debacle fame), Phil Jones and Stefan Rahmstorf should be barred >> > from the IPCC process.” >> > >> > "These words do not mean that I think anthropogenic climate change is >> > a hoax. On the contrary, it is a question which we have to be very >> > well aware of. But I am also aware that in this thick atmosphere -and >> > I am not speaking of greenhouse gases now- editors, reviewers and >> > authors of alternative studies, analysis, interpretations,even based >> > on the same data we have at our disposal, have been bullied and subtly >> > blackmailed. In this atmosphere, Ph D students are often tempted to >> > tweak their data so as to fit the 'politically correct picture'. Some, >> > or many issues, about climate change are still not well known. Policy >> > makers should be aware of the attempts to hide these uncertainties >> > under a unified picture. I had the 'pleasure' to experience all this >> > in my area of research." >> >> So you reckon he' >> > http://coast.gkss.de/staff/zorita/myview.html >> > >> > Doesn't surprise me. Lots more revelations to come, great resources to >> > talk around the science and politics of climate change with students. >> > >> > Cheers >> > >> > -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> > Groups "WikiEducator" group. >> > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org >> > To visit the discussion forum: >> > http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator >> > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> > [email protected] >> >> >> >> -- >> Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin >> Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. >> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. >> http://www.earthtreasury.org/ >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "WikiEducator" group. >> To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org >> To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] -- Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. http://www.earthtreasury.org/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
