I've spoken a lot about climate change on this board in the past and I don't intend to do it again when prompted by a facetious tweet from Pat Sajak. But one of the pet peeves that I always seem to return to is the increasing frequency with which good science is hijacked. Inevitably, I see alarmists referring to what "climate scientists know", and I see skeptics pointing to what "scientists are motivated by".
The thing is: scientists are not monolithic. Good scientists believe a lot of different things and are motivated by a lot of different things.
When either side of the AGW debate tries to marginalize the other equally-scientific view by characterizing the beliefs of climate scientists in a monolithic way, it quells the scientific discussion and erodes public trust in the whole scientific process. When either side of the AGW debate tries to cast aspersions on the entire scientific community with accusations of suspect motivations, not only does it quell the scientific discussion and erode public trust in science, but it's actually self-marginalizing. The end result is that actual science is cut out of the debate, and we're left with a cacophony of confused people arguing about things that they themselves don't really understand too well.
The reputation of science in general is taking a huge hit by this whole issue. Some of that is earned. But much of that is due to the monolithic misrepresentation of "what scientists know" and "what scientists are motivated by".
I'll say it again: scientists are not monolithic. Good scientists believe a lot of different things and are motivated by a lot of different things.
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