Thursday, April 20, 2017

FOR SCIENCE!

This Saturday, I am planning on attending the NYC March for Science, so I registered tonight. My great and good friends at the Secret Science Club are planning on attending, though I imagine that any attempt to organize a group ahead of time would be like herding cats. Suffice it to say, the rally starts at 10:30AM at Central Park West and 62nd St, so any of the SSC regulars can rally there.

Longtime readers will know of my love for science, and my feeble layperson's attempts to promote it. It's time to put my moxie where my mouth is and to step up for evidence-based policy. If you are in the NY Metro Area, and are planning on attending, please let me know. I'll be the guy who looks a lot like the profile picture at the right, so I won't be that hard to find.

And on a lighter note, here's a whimsical number from nerd-approved They Might Be Giants:





That might be considered an unofficial theme song for the march.

6 comments:

mikey said...

I guess I understand why you're doing it, but I can't help but think that after the last five hundred years if you have to convince people why science is important you're probably wasting your time...

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

It's a show of solidarity- the forces of ignorance are well-funded. In the 21st century, monkey trials are still occurring, and an entire industry exists to sow doubt about climate change (the same creeps who tried to squash findings about the link between smoking and cancer are involved). I can watch this and sit on the sidelines.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

"Can't "

mikey said...

Well, I really think we need to put climate change denial in a whole different category. Denying the science isn't an actual belief system, like flat earth or 600 year old earth or vaccine/autism links. Instead climate change denial is a TACTIC. The argument is - or can be - a reasonable one. It's purely economic - do you want to take a long-term view or a short term one? Obviously, we know we want to actually take the long term view and expend resources today to make the planet sustainable for future generations (although it's VERY reasonable to ask questions about 'sustainable for how many humans?).

But these people aren't really denying science - they've adopted that as the most compelling argument against ACTING on the science. The cheaper you can keep energy costs the wealthier a nation will be. And, of course, in the meantime there are other compelling realities in the energy generation industry that are making most fossil fuels (the primary exception being natural gas) noncompetitive in the marketplace.

So they don't worry me on both a theoretical level - the science is unquestionable - and on a practical level - coal is dead, oil is dying, renewables are very nearly at cost parity even WITHOUT pricing in the negative externalities of fossil fuel generation.

Robert Mcneilly said...

O'reillys auto parts
Part 121G
😆

Robert Mcneilly said...

O'reillys auto parts
Part 121G
😆