More idiocy from Texas

by cogdogblog

Texas declares war on the IPCC, British climate unit
[Via SciGuy]

After Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday that the state will challenge the EPA’s ruling to regulate carbon dioxide, I had a lengthy conversation with Greg Abbott, the state’s attorney general. He had some pretty strong feelings about the IPCC in particular, and climate scientists in general.

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I wonder if they should change the Welcome to Texas signs to reflect the sort of thinking that is being evidenced in Texas today

It is very interesting when a supposedly educated man continues to spout things that have been debunked. And so easily.

All the parts of the IPCC report that have supposedly been found at fault come from the policy part, not the science part. No one has demonstrated substantial errors in the science.

The original data have NOT been destroyed. That data still resides in the climate centers that created it. The CRU destroyed copies of the data, not the originals. This is like saying that when I erase the cache from my web browser, I have destroyed the original data.

None of the information has been proven to be faulty. Just a lot of people who want that to be the case.

This guy looks to be a simple political hack, taking advantage of the same techniques the tobacco industry used to try and stop regulation of cigarettes. Sometimes I wonder what the people who worked for the Tobacco Institute do. Perhaps we know now.

The state completely misstates the emails, and their importance, in order to accomplish a political end, without talking to any climate scientists of its own. Again, this is what lawyers do when they have no facts, attack the scientists.

A rational world would disdain these sorts of actions but, unfortunately we live in a world that is just not rational, evidenced by the number of people who think that the Flintstones are a documentary.

A story of competence and incompetence

by faith goble

Medical Mystery: A 16-year-old with “Alzheimer’s disease”?
[Via Knight Science Journalism Tracker]

In the mood for a nice little mystery this morning? If you don’t have time for The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, check out Sandra G. Boodman’s nice little tale in ’smorning’s Washington Post. Something is wrong with Adam Hammerman’s memory:

One morning as Adam prepared to take a shower, he screamed after seeing himself in the mirror: He said he did not remember getting a haircut the previous day. He called his mother from school to ask what time she was picking him up, then called again five minutes later to ask the same thing…

It’s a very nice piece. Boodman manages to sneak in the science you need to understand Adam’s condition without interrupting the story line. Of course, unlike the girl with the dragon tattoo, Adam is real.

That means that the ending is…well, I don’t want to spoil it.

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I am so glad they found someone who actually knew what he was doing. I hope they went back to some of the clinicians, like the technician who berated them, claiming it was all in their son’s head, and ripped them a new one. It ticks me off when people who really do not have a frigging clue about the field they are working in act like they are geniuses.

They are simply mediocre people who are fine with the large percentage of medical problems that are straightforward. But they should learn they simply are incompetent when it comes to the smaller percentage that are more complex.

Of course, one of the traits of incompetent people is that they are uniquely unable to judge how incompetent they are. “…the skills required for competence often are the same skills necessary to recognize competence.”

I guess this story actually shows just how competent the parents are. They did not take the advice of the incompetent people too far. They tried what was suggested and observed whether it worked. They applied rational thinking to the problem (i.e. why would a teenager who so wanted to drive make it impossible for him to do so, on purpose).

The parents displayed their strong competency, recognizing that they were not getting competent advice and searching for the correct answer from someone who was actually competent.

And, even then they decided to verify with a trip to the Mayo Clinic.

Glad the story has an end that appears to be working. I wonder how many of these Medical Mysteries actually arise because so many medical people really have little understanding outside of the basics? I do know that finding a physician who is a really competent diagnostician is like finding a rich vein of gold. It can be as joyous.

But did they drive cars with their feet?

by wili_hybrid

Meet the Flintstones | The Texas Tribune
[Via The Texas Tribune]

Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

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These sorts of polls are so depressing. But first, take the stuff about what certain followers of certain politicians feel with a grain of salt. Looking at the actual data, you are looking at too small a cohort to give numbers without really big error bars. The most popular Democrat had only 131 people in the poll while the most popular Republican had 164. Besides, much larger polls have found that a majority of Republicans do not think evolution is true while a majority of Democrats and Independents do. Nothing new here.

Even the total number polled, 800 people, is a little light but should still give numbers to be examined.

Lets look at the total numbers.

Only 35% believe that humans developed from earlier species. As many people think that human beings developed over millions of year as those who believe they were created by God 10,000 years ago.

Only 41% of the people know that humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time. In fact, a whopping 30% actually do not know the answer to the question.

And here is an interesting factoid. About the same percentage of people feel that both Man (12%) and animals (15%) evolved without the hand of God. They are consistent. No God, Same process for both Man and animals.

But this is very different when God is involved. For Man, 38% think that Man evolved over millions of years but that God was involved and 38% believe Man was created by God in our present form. Same percentage believe in evolution as in Young Earth, special creation. Not a great number but a start.

For animals, the percentage drops to 22% believing that animals have always existed in their present form and 53% thinking that animals evolved through natural selection but with a hand from God. So a majority believes that animals evolved and were not specially created.

Therefore, a sizable portion of the public in Texas (about 16%) thinks that animals evolved through natural selection just like Darwin said but that mankind is special and has never evolved. These are the ones who switched their votes and were not constant between their views, depending on whether Man was involved or animals.

Not only do some think that dinosaurs and man lived at the same time, there are people who believe that Man has arrived here from a totally different process than all other animals!

These sorts of numbers have consistently been found in the South and the Midwest, where a plurality does not believe in evolution, especially with respect to Man. Only in the Northeast and the West do solid majorities believe in evolution, see natural selection as proven and see common descent of Man and animals.

So, large parts of the country, majorities get the answers correct. I’ve always wondered why other parts, particularly the South, get it so wrong. I think the major reason may be less education attained. The South has some of the worst education systems in the country and education level accounts for a large part of the differences in evolution thought.  Only 32% of those with a High School education or less thinking that Man developed from other animals. For people with postgraduate education, this rose to 60%.

Why do we let this state which will be determining what science textbooks students in the rest of the country get to use!? I used to live there and I still do not know. I thought we fixed it one time but the Know-Nothings are back in charge.