Lies, and other traits, of denialists

Climate Change: the bigger the lie
[Via Greenfyre's]

BPSDB

FABIAN: If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.

SIR TOBY BELCH : His very genius hath taken the infection of the device, man.

Twelfth Night Act III, Scene 4

.

It is a perverse fact that often the sheer idiocy of many of the climate change Denier arguments works in their favour.

This is above and beyond the usual reasons some people find ways to believe the climate change Denier deceptions.

I am not referring to the hard core Deniers who write the blogs and spam legitimate climate sites with absurd claims, obvious frauds and largely irrelevant rants. This cadre are & will be the 10% of the population that will never be convinced even as their homes burst into flame.

My concern is the section of the general public who are “in denial” rather than being “Deniers” per se. They are our target for education, but to do that we need to understand why they are in denial and why the lies work on them.

• Information Deficit
• Psychology of Denial
• • Motivated reasoning
  • Groupthink
  • Future discounting & the neurotic paradox
  • Belief retention
  • Inferred justification
  • The bigger the lie
• Beware this boy
• Links of interest

[More]

This is an excellent essay delineating many of the tactics used by denialists and why they are so psychologically attractive to so many. It helps present a possible path to help deal with them and their use of lies, misinformation and other tropes to keep so many people ignorant.

There is a way to create a market of early adopters

[Crossposted at SpreadingScience]

by kevindooley

Oregon must create a market of early adopters
[Via Climate Solutions]

One reason we created the New Energy Cities program at Climate Solutions was to elevate the conversation and focus on a small number of city and utility partnerships that are serious about the degree of innovation needed to create a clean, efficient energy system at the local level.

[More]

Early adopters are a small portion of any community – the ones most in tune with new ideas and processes. The majority of people do not want new ideas or processes – they just want to continue using what they have because they know that these will work.

These doers really only change, only adopt innovative processes, when either of two things happen: 1) the people they know all change; or, 2) a thought leader they respect tells them to.

These thought leaders often act as mediators between the doers and the early adopters, two populations that often do not communicate well. The early adopters are always coming up with new things that just distract the doers.

Most communities do not have enough of these mediators and do not effectively leverage those they do have. People seldom get kudos for acting to facilitate change like this.

To create a community of change, one needs to identify and leverage these thought leaders who can effectively mediate between the early adopters and the doers. The more efficient this can be done, the more rapidly the entire community can adapt to change.

The post made me sad but the comments made me sadder

by OakleyOriginals

11 for ’11: Dr. Jack Smith on bioinformatics
[Via SciGuy]

During the holiday season I’ve invited 11 of the greater Houston area’s top scientific minds to share a few words on something — a trend, a discovery or an insight — in their field that excites them as they look ahead to the next few years. A new entry in the 11 for ’11 series will be published each morning.

Today’s insight comes from Dr. Jack Smith, dean of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Biomedical Informatics.

[More]

Just a few years ago, bioinformatics was the place to be for new breakthroughs in leading edge research. Now it is reduced to helping with Electronic Medical Records. How mundane.

But the benefits of putting all medical records into digital form are huge. Swedish Hospital in Seattle mandated that all the doctors had to move to electronic records. This allows the hospital to data mine the results.

They have used this approach to examine which type of patients are readmitted, are identifying the causes and are working to reduce the resultant costs. This is just one little aspect. The ability to rapidly determine if the hospital is doing things right will change things forever.

But read the comments and you will read a bunch of ignorant rants against Obama, big government, and Big Brother. They see the same Bogey Man behind everything. I bet they complained about big government when bloodletting went out of style.

The benefits to all of us will outweigh any negatives. Heck, if we simply did not have to answer the same questions each time we go to the doctor (Any allergies to medication? Do you smoke? etc.), think how much time and money would be saved?