The certainty of Science is paradoxically built around questions and doubt. The most revered theories can always be overthrown by better ones, and some big ones have fallen in the past. No matter how sure we are of today’s science there’s always the possibility we’re wrong and that better explanations might appear. Although they can be proven false, scientific theories can never be proven true. That’s the type of doubt science depends on for its existence.
There’s another kind of doubt, though, a false doubt that perverts this fundamental strength of science and rationality to attack it. This type of doubt doesn’t offer new insights or better explanations of its own, but it says to disbelieve science anyway because it’s not proven. There may be many motivations for this cancerous type of doubt; greed, ideology, ignorance, fear, maybe others. But whatever their motivation these doubtcasters need shills to give their tripe some tenuous connection to reality.
When they do, they turn to a small and reliable stable of carriers ready to transmit their disease. For this month’s News To Make You Furious we introduce you to Scientists for Sale, the intellectual prostitutes (no offense to prostitutes) who spit at the achievements of humanity’s best minds. When you’re suitably apoplectic about their existence you’ll just be getting started… you’ll be incoherent with rage when you find out how little they sell out for!
A Gallery of Sold Science
The CO2 Coalition, website.
Not a joke. A perfect example of scientistic prostitution in service of greed.
Greenpeace Statement On Patrick Moore
Statement on Greenpeace website explaining Patrick Moore, a past Greenpeace member who now shills for anti-environment causes.
The Princeton Academic Testifying for Ted Cruz’s Climate Hearing Is For-Hire by Fossil-Fuel Corporations, Zoe Carpenter in The Nation, Dec 2015
Breitbart News: Go-To Outlet For “Academics-For-Hire” By The Fossil Fuel Industry? Andrew Seifter on Media Matters, Dec 2015
Princeton Prof Loses It On Camera: Climate Science Lies for Cash, Sam Seder Majority Report, Dec 2015
Here’s an example of a Scientist-for-hire getting called out by the actual scientist whose work he twisted…
A Real Climate Scientist Demolishes Bill Nye’s Global Warming Alarmism, Austin Petersen on The Libertarian Republic, Aug 2015
Scientist Slams Daily Caller For Distorting His Research To Suggest Climate Change Is Fake, Emily Atkin on Climate Progress, Feb 2015
This is a pervasive strategy across a variety of industries. Tobacco was the pioneer, but today it’s in every arena where the science is settled but the business isn’t. We’ll close with two of our past “News To Make You Furious” articles that point out this pattern in other areas…
Wendell Potter and Health Care, “News To Make You Furious” Apr 2012
The Climate Change Denial Machine, “News To Make You Furious” Sep 201
