Americans value science, but not all of it: survey

reuters ^ | Jul 9, 2009

[JoeProBono]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Many Americans still value the nation's scientific achievements, but unlike most scientists, they often pick and choose which scientific findings they agree with, especially in the areas of climate change and evolution, according to a survey released on Thursday.

The survey found nearly 9 in 10 scientists accept the idea of evolution by natural selection, but just a third of the public does. And while 84 percent of scientists say the Earth is getting warmer because of human activity, less than half of the public agrees with that.

"The public and the scientists have very different views on many different issues, including the science of evolution and climate change," Scott Keeter of the Pew Research Center said in a telephone briefing. The center conducted the wide-ranging telephone survey in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.

[JoeProBono]

[rfp1234]

...84 percent of scientists say the Earth is getting warmer because of human activity...

Where did they get that absurd 84% number?! [Probably by polling 6 hacks from the USEPA, one of which disagreed].

[rfp1234]

The research included responses from 2,533 scientists in the AAAS, and 2,001 public respondents

That doesn't indicate how many people actually answered "yes" or "no". Many could just have stated they were undecided on an issue such as Gore Bull Warming. PEW polls are typically slanted in one direction, I call BS.

[MortMan]

Science is not democratic. Either the findings are provably true (at least for now), or they are ideas based on models of real-world processes that are (at best) poorly understood.

You know - like the hockey stick take-off of global temperatures...

[rfp1234]

Out of approximaterly 500 Fellows of the AAAS, exactly four (4) are "atmospheric scientists". If that ratio extended to the rank-and-file, that might indicate a deficiency in climate change experts in the association.

Here's one reason why many of these scientists find it easy to believe in the anthropogenic warming mantra: it's easier to introduce "science" to the "uneducated general public" if you can scare their pants off.

[Publius6961]

...they often pick and choose which scientific findings they agree with, especially in the areas of climate change and evolution, according to a survey released on Thursday.

Findings are not achievements, they are opinions. And computer simulations are not 'facts.'

Sadly, the American public can't tell the difference.

The science is thoroughly discussed in dozens of technical articles, books and blogs, but certainly not in "Earth in the Balance.

As an example...

[Onelifetogive]

Where did they get that absurd 84% number?! [Probably by polling 6 hacks from the USEPA, one of which disagreed].

Actually it was 5 hacks, but one answered, "Well, yes and no..."

[Rudder]

I, and many other card-carrying scientists, have dropped out from the AAAS because its current officers publicly proselytize anthropogenic global warming madness.

[Steve Van Doorn]

it is fake but but accurate

[Steve Van Doorn]

AAAS Board Statement on Climate Change (pdf) AAAS Board Statement on Climate Change (pdf)
From the article: “The time to control greenhouse gas emissions is now”
this is their pool of scientists.