tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5337555368793819627.post5065190537147215223..comments2023-06-07T09:04:36.390-04:00Comments on More Grumbine Science: Neither politicians nor political commentatorsRobert Grumbinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10783453972811796911noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5337555368793819627.post-708389908491954592009-02-21T18:22:00.000-05:002009-02-21T18:22:00.000-05:00The problem comes in, I think, when a group discov...The problem comes in, I think, when a group discovers that it's easier to persuade the masses to collectively deny reality than to convince them to maintain their ideological stance on an issue while confronting reality. <BR/><BR/>This happens fairly often - note that fundamentalist religions which operate on the principle of reality-denial are the only ones still able to convince their followers that women shouldn't have equal rights, and that Holocaust denialism is a cornerstone of the ideology of the (thankfully small) group of people who want to persecute Jews. It turns out that people are actually pretty good at denying elements of reality that make them uncomfortable in their ideology.quasarpulsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08762550806982089851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5337555368793819627.post-83849545974960146472009-02-19T10:04:00.000-05:002009-02-19T10:04:00.000-05:00The last part of your comment is where I find the ...The last part of your comment is where I find the greatest issue these days. I'm old enough to remember when the people most annoyed with a conservative who lied were other conservatives. At that time, I was wishing for more such behavior from liberals. Time has passed.<BR/><BR/>A conservative viewpoint (or liberal one, or any other) has nothing to do with being reality based, or not. With the Arctic ice, for instance: It's declining, observed to be doing so, and to have done so drastically in the 2007 and 2008 seasonal minima. That's just part of reality, not a matter of political viewpoint. <BR/><BR/>Where I think we get to the part of viewpoint is in deciding whether that bit of reality, and others, means that humans might need to do something differently. And in deciding what those things might be, if we've decided that some things need to be addressed.<BR/><BR/>But I realize my thought there is far from the norm for the parts of the world Will's column, and such, inhabits.Robert Grumbinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10783453972811796911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5337555368793819627.post-18266407000124079612009-02-19T09:14:00.000-05:002009-02-19T09:14:00.000-05:00Robert,As a scientist I'm inclined to agree about ...Robert,<BR/>As a scientist I'm inclined to agree about all that, but one has to remember that George Will is, first and foremost, a conservative political commentator. Thus he is most likely to author pieces that support the conservative political viewpoint, no matter how irrational or baseless the viewpoint may be.Philip H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12049875206738422083noreply@blogger.com