Aliens Cause Global Warming

Caltech Michelin Lecture ^ | January 17, 2003 | Michael Crichton

[Dan Evans]

My topic today sounds humorous but unfortunately I am serious. I am going to argue that extraterrestrials lie behind global warming. Or to speak more precisely, I will argue that a belief in extraterrestrials has paved the way, in a progression of steps, to a belief in global warming. Charting this progression of belief will be my task today.

[Fledermaus]

Reality is only consensual agreement. What we believe is what is real.

I can't wait for the Democrats to start a "2+2=5" belief to pound "evil Republicans" with! ;-)

[backhoe]

[Pro-Bush]

Sooner or later, we must form an independent research institute in this country. It must be funded by industry, by government, and by private philanthropy, both individuals and trusts. The money must be pooled, so that investigators do not know who is paying them. The institute must fund more than one team to do research in a particular area, and the verification of results will be a foregone requirement: teams will know their results will be checked by other groups. In many cases, those who decide how to gather the data will not gather it, and those who gather the data will not analyze it. If we were to address the land temperature records with such rigor, we would be well on our way to an understanding of exactly how much faith we can place in global warming, and therefore what seriousness we must address this.

Bump! Great read.

[beezdotcom]

I have seen firsthand that scientific research is only as good as the lack of bias in the person conducting it.

For example, my senior thesis at MIT sought an alternative explanation to a particular geologic phenomenon that a Creationist scientist proffered as proof-positive of in-fiat creation 6000 years ago. While I ultimately disagreed with his contention that it was "proof" (I found other mechanisms that could account for it), his data was meticulous.

What was shocking was the number of papers published in peer-reviewed journals in response to his claims, that were nothing more than character assassinations. Despite being peer-reviewed, they contained no new data, and no reasoned re-interpretations of his data - they merely contained "proof by vigorous assertion" that he was a loon. In twenty papers, I found only one that posed a measured, scholarly response.

Similarly, I participated as a test subject in a metabolic study years ago seeking to show whether a low-carb or a low-fat diet was better for weight loss. Sadly, the strawman was set up that the determining factor would be the presence of a particular thyroid hormone deemed necessary for weight loss. Upon finding that this hormone was higher on the low-fat diet, IT was deemed better for weight loss - despite the fact that many of us LOST weight on the low-carb diet and GAINED weight on the low-fat diet.

[aculeus]

This got linked at Arts & Letters which gets a lot of academic interest.


http://aldaily.com/

[wjcsux]

Great read, thanks.

[William Terrell]

What sacred cow of your's did he threaten?

[blanknoone]

Great article on psuedo science.

[knak]

Great read! I liked this part:

Nobody believes a weather prediction twelve hours ahead. Now we're asked to believe a prediction that goes out 100 years into the future? And make financial investments based on that prediction? Has everybody lost their minds?

[restornu]

M-M-M-My Sharona!

Hahaha - that's what you get for looking up my member since date. Now you'll have that song stuck in your head for the next hour or two.

Never heard of the song! LOL!

[UCANSEE2]

I, one and you, another. Which is real?

To whom?

[NathanR]

Science Ping

[xp38]

A variation might be the Battlestar Galactica theory.

[Fledermaus]

Which Battlestar Galactica? The first one or the horrible "remake"? ;-)

[expatpat]

His comment about continental drift reminds me of when I was in college in the late 50's. I shared lodgings with 4 or 5 geologists. When I said I believed in continental drift, they didn't try to argue with me, but just laughed at me as a crank! Three years later, they should have been red-faced.

[McCloud-Strife]

Aliens Cause Global Warming? Of Course, haven't you seen "The Arrival" with Charlie Sheen?

[xp38]

Hard to say since I haven't seen the horrible remake. There are many currents in Battlestar Galactica theory. One denies the existence of Galactica 1980 where earth is found but found wanting. Others contend validity. The presence of Lorne Greene (an important movement called Greene theory) in the cast of these somewhat forgotten episodes however adds gravitas and robustness to these findings.

[Mike Darancette]

Cast your minds back to 1960. John F. Kennedy is president,...

Ummm what?

Otherwise a great read

[Swordmaker]

Long read but worth it on the topic we were discussing the other day.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Poor article, in my opinion. Maybe he could learn something about presidential inaugurations. He makes the wrong point about the Nuclear Winter, namely that the peer-reviewed journals didn't accept the results. Sagan, et al., went to the Press first. The same for Cold Fusion. It does help to check things out before going to the Press. Nobody (actually, none of the climatologists that I know) except for Sagan thought that the Kuwait oil fires would have any effect. We've seen oil fires before.