Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post

PepsiFree · 04-15-2019, 08:27 AM

16% of Americans are still skeptical that the earth is round.

It should surprise literally nobody that there is a spread of answers here. No matter how significant the evidence of the level of agreement from scientists on any matter, there will always be skeptics. And of these skeptics there are outright deniers. These deniers find a few “reputable” skeptics and cling to it like an ideology.

To CaptainYooh’s point, “how can people be sure?”
Well, the average person can’t be “sure” exactly.
How can we be sure gravity exists?
How can we be sure everything is made of molecules?
How can we be sure the sun gives us both vitamin D, and sometimes cancer?
How can we be sure the earth is round, or that it revolves around the sun?
How can we be sure the colours we see are the same as everybody else (save for colourblindness, of course)?
How can we be sure vaccines don’t cause autism?

Truthfully, we can’t be “sure” of any of these things. But thankfully we have scientists who for hundreds of years have dedicated their lives to testing, re-testing, and re-testing again theories to see if they hold up. And when thousands of scientists get the same results, and when these results are peer-reviewed and verified, we have what most would constitute as “enough” evidence to suggest that these things are true. Science isn’t simply showing that something is true, it’s showing evidence of a theory and having others actively work to poke holes and dismantle that theory. If the theory stands despite that, we trust it.

So you then have to ask yourself why you don’t trust theories that have gone through that process. Whether it’s skepticism or denial, what I find most often if that average people who engage in it are generally looking for “something else” or to feel part of something exclusive. After all, there’s really no difference if an individual thinks gravity doesn’t exist. People might think they’re dumb, but who cares what other people think, because you likely have a community that thinks you’re clever. And if one day gravity turns out not to exist? The feeling to those deniers would be overwhelming, to have “known” something the system didn’t, and to have a little bit of intellectual power in an otherwise listless life. All this ignoring that there are actual scientists whose obligation it is to try and disprove these things, and if they are able to, how would a layman?

So yes, people will deny climate change, or at least the human element of climate change, and they’ll probably do it forever. Even if it becomes accepted to the point of the shape of the earth or the existence of gravity, those people will still exist. Because we can’t be “sure.” But it’s wise to question yourself if you can’t / won’t trust “big science,” because naturally there’s a whole lot else you could just stop trusting for the sake of it.

Like your doctor telling you growth on your skin is cancer caused by the sun, you can deny it, forget about treatment, and keep spending time outside without sunscreen all you want.

Eventually though, you’re just going to die. And it’s hard to feel clever when you’re dead.

04-15-2019, 08:27 AM	#176
PepsiFree Participant Join Date: Jul 2015 Exp:	16% of Americans are still skeptical that the earth is round. It should surprise literally nobody that there is a spread of answers here. No matter how significant the evidence of the level of agreement from scientists on any matter, there will always be skeptics. And of these skeptics there are outright deniers. These deniers find a few “reputable” skeptics and cling to it like an ideology. To CaptainYooh’s point, “how can people be sure?” Well, the average person can’t be “sure” exactly. How can we be sure gravity exists? How can we be sure everything is made of molecules? How can we be sure the sun gives us both vitamin D, and sometimes cancer? How can we be sure the earth is round, or that it revolves around the sun? How can we be sure the colours we see are the same as everybody else (save for colourblindness, of course)? How can we be sure vaccines don’t cause autism? Truthfully, we can’t be “sure” of any of these things. But thankfully we have scientists who for hundreds of years have dedicated their lives to testing, re-testing, and re-testing again theories to see if they hold up. And when thousands of scientists get the same results, and when these results are peer-reviewed and verified, we have what most would constitute as “enough” evidence to suggest that these things are true. Science isn’t simply showing that something is true, it’s showing evidence of a theory and having others actively work to poke holes and dismantle that theory. If the theory stands despite that, we trust it. So you then have to ask yourself why you don’t trust theories that have gone through that process. Whether it’s skepticism or denial, what I find most often if that average people who engage in it are generally looking for “something else” or to feel part of something exclusive. After all, there’s really no difference if an individual thinks gravity doesn’t exist. People might think they’re dumb, but who cares what other people think, because you likely have a community that thinks you’re clever. And if one day gravity turns out not to exist? The feeling to those deniers would be overwhelming, to have “known” something the system didn’t, and to have a little bit of intellectual power in an otherwise listless life. All this ignoring that there are actual scientists whose obligation it is to try and disprove these things, and if they are able to, how would a layman? So yes, people will deny climate change, or at least the human element of climate change, and they’ll probably do it forever. Even if it becomes accepted to the point of the shape of the earth or the existence of gravity, those people will still exist. Because we can’t be “sure.” But it’s wise to question yourself if you can’t / won’t trust “big science,” because naturally there’s a whole lot else you could just stop trusting for the sake of it. Like your doctor telling you growth on your skin is cancer caused by the sun, you can deny it, forget about treatment, and keep spending time outside without sunscreen all you want. Eventually though, you’re just going to die. And it’s hard to feel clever when you’re dead.