Denialism

Author: MarkH

  • Ed Brayton Exposes Sal Cordova’s Cherry Picking

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    MarkH
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    It was pointed out in a comment in our FRC post how much cherry picking resembles rank dishonesty. That’s because it is. Deception is inherent in denialist arguments, and there are few better examples than Sal Cordova’s selective quotation as demonstrated by Ed Brayton in Dispatches from the Culture Wars.

  • Fake Experts

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    MarkH
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    You know who they are – those organizations that have words like “freedom” and “rights” “choice” and “consumer” in their names but always shill for corporate interests…those occasional MDs or engineers creationists find that will say evolution has nothing to do with science. They are the fake experts. But how do we tell which experts…

  • Never forget 4-29

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    MarkH
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    How will we ever know the truth about 4-29. I say, it was a conspiracy to undermine 9-11 truth to show that fuel from a tanker truck could actually melt steel and cause a freeway to collapse. Initial photos from the site raise lots of questions.

  • Selectivity from the Family Research Council

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    MarkH
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    Some might wonder why I include some right-wing “family” organizations on the list of denialists. It’s simple. In their efforts to oppose all forms of contraception, they routinely lie about the science behind the efficacy of condoms for STD-prevention (just like HIV/AIDS denialists), the efficacy of contraception, as well as social effects of contraception like…

  • Selectivity (Cherry Picking)

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    MarkH
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    For our next installment of the big five tactics in denialism we’ll discuss the tactic of selectivity, or cherry-picking of data.

  • Unified theory of the crank

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    MarkH
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    A crank is defined as a man who cannot be turned. – Nature, 8 Nov 1906 Here at denialism blog, we’re very interested in what makes people cranks. Not only how one defines crankish behavior, but literally how people develop unreasonable attitudes about the world in the face of evidence to the contrary. Our definition…

  • Conspiracy

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    MarkH
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    Three can keep a secret if two are dead. -Benjamin Franklin What are denialist conspiracy theories and why should people be instantly distrustful of them? And what do they have to do with denialism?

  • Hello Scienceblogs

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    MarkH
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    Hello and welcome to denialism blog. Here we will discuss the problem of denialists, their standard arguing techniques, how to identify denialists and/or cranks, and discuss topics of general interest such as skepticism, medicine, law and science. I’ll be taking on denialists in the sciences, while my brother, Chris, will be geared more towards the…

  • What is Denialism?

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    MarkH
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    What is denialism? Denialism: the employment of rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of argument or legitimate debate, when in actuality there is none. These false arguments are used when one has few or no facts to support one’s viewpoint against a scientific consensus or against overwhelming evidence to the contrary. They are effective in…