Thursday, 16 May 2024

Q: "How does the same mind hold, 'Nothing is certain' and ' Climate catastrophe is certain'?"


"We constantly hear that man can know nothing for certain, that truth is relative to the individual, that observations are 'theory-laden' so cannot claim to be objective, that no scientific claim can be proved true, that we can say only it hasn’t been refuted by the data so far. At the same time and from the same people, we hear that catastrophic climate change is beyond doubt, that those who question it are 'deniers' who should be kicked out of any position of consequence.
    "How does the same mind hold, 'Nothing is certain' and ' Climate catastrophe is certain'?"

~ Harry Binswanger on 'Unnoticed Contradictions'

1 comment:

Greig said...

There is a little bit of “the enemy” about this reasoning. Beginning with the word “We”, confusing through the strawman and appeal to authority of “the same people”, and coming to an unearned rhetorical flourish of an ending. It would make an excellent point if a specific person was named and quoted. Beyond that, it’s the same tactics the collectivists use constantly. That said, it’s excellent “truthiness” and I shall look for examples to transition it to reality! šŸ»