Thank you! I can only imagine the hair tearing hours this took. It's a brilliant piece of investigation for those of us too exhausted to do the leg work ourselves.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you possessing the definition of morality and exercising the most ethical practices. Only outdone by your work ethic.
Thank you. It was a complete pain in the ass, but had to be done. Ultimately, it gives people like us more power. These charlatans like this need to be exposed and easily cast aside. BTW, I know you know.
Thanks for the research on this and I understand and share your frustration on refuting the lies. I've attempted to counter the climate change deniers with "We live on a finite planet with finite resources and we need to start conserving them now. Regardless of climate change." Not even that works. Ever try to convince a flat earther the world is round? Good luck with that. If you were able to boot their ass into orbit they'd still believe the earth is flat since they couldn't see the back side. Ask them how thick the earth is. It's good for a laugh at least.
It's also advisable to keep in mind that it's primarily the PhDs who are responsible for the current problems (along with the political economic systems.) The "experts" are all after the same things- money and prestige. If the devil has the paycheck they'll side with him. The biggest problem is that one has to convince the believers of the "expert" idiots that those experts are really idiots but those believers don't have the intelligence to understand the concepts or science of what is being discussed. They only understand the "Dr" in front of the name. And if you don't have a bigger "Dr" in front of your name you are dismissed.
It's called propaganda. It's very effective.
Money is the new definition of intelligence. Science "truth" is now being defined by money.
Try to stay sane. It's getting harder by the day.
A friend of mine told me "I never thought I was smart until I took a look at all the dummies around me".
I dreaded doing this one, but that awful film had to be addressed. I suppose for many people if they see the word "physicist" that ends the conversation, but that just isn't so. I figure if we can change one in ten of those immersed in one lie or another, we've done well. I have a cousin who's down the right-wing rabbit hole. She referred to something Heartland put out a while back. At least I know about those clowns now, and understand the connections. Maybe that will be useful to me — if I ever see her again. She seems to have slipped away. Sad. These are extreme times on every front. It's difficult to comprehend just how toxic and stupid most of our leadership is, seemingly soulless.
I just read the comments and the one where you mentioned population reduction.
Population is the driving force behind climate change, ecocide and most of not all the other major problems in the world. Overpopulation to be precise. Advanced technology however, would never have been developed without the increase in population and resulting communication systems. It's a catch 22 cycle. Technology allows more efficient farming, advanced medical, transportation, housing etc which results in a population explosion. In the past the population has been controlled by nature via plagues or natural disasters and limited food supplies. Technology has changed that system to the point where the planet is now overburdened.
Putting it in a different perspective if the population was half a billion the continued use of fossil fuels would not result in climate change. The population explosion problem has been known for over 100 years and the "tipping point" has been reached. The only solution is for a drastic reduction in population. There is no such thing as green energy given the available technology. Fusion, geothermal, hydroelectric might be possible but are not available and would take years to develop but even then would not be able to sustain a continuous rapidly growing population. This is the "Inconvenient Truth" which is not being discussed. The solutions to climate change are all technologically based which are the cause of climate change. An attempt at putting out the fire with gasoline. Quite literally, while not addressing the actual cause of the problem which is overpopulation. It's no wonder why the political establishment is dancing around the problem facing civilization.
Yes, population is a primary issue, and any creature that outstrips its resources is destined for a population crash. This essay by Justin McAffee is a great illustration of how we have reached that point in the past, well before FFs were discovered.
Talking about population is a contentious issue. Many point out rightly that the grotesque overconsumption by the wealthiest nations (particularly the one and two per centers) is what we should address. I agree with that, but raw population is core as well. We would never have reached 8bn on the planet without FFs, and they ARE running out regardless of how it looks when we buy a tank of gas. The electric economy depends on FFs, particularly diesel, to run heavy equipment for mining, and of course that is another form of environmental destruction as are turbine and solar farms which will continue to feed the 6th Extinction from habitat loss. I agree, technology is not going to save us, but we're going to pretend as long as we can, because that makes the system money and power. It's difficult to see any way out of this. Degrowth would offer hope, but we can't even stop slaughtering each other from hatreds going back hundreds or even thousands of years. We can be a cooperative communal species on a small scale, but ultimately our tribal hatred stops us from creating what should be heaven on Earth, with all we have been gifted, but mindlessly destroy.
All I can say is that we're in complete agreement. Sorry I can't send you some money but I'm probably worse off than you. Sounds like we followed the same path except you were in graphic design and I was in engineering both ending up in "handyman" status. Disgusting.
NOT I could not agree with you more enthusiastically. Everything you’ve ever said since I met you. You are always hitting the nail square on the head with not only accuracy but, deadly power.
I’ve been 100% all in with his science since the 70s. I just fail to remember PT Barnum’s absolute concerning the demographic. Often, sadly.
“Never underestimate the stupidity of the average American”
I read Heinlein in my teens. Honestly, I don't remember his books well, other than enjoying them. One thing for certain, we make science fiction come true rather than heeding its warning.
Actually skipped your column, after many years of research and of course the great "Merchants of Doubt".
I've given up all that technical argument, I've fallen to their level, and frankly, it's working for me, the stress and frustration are gone. Some of my own, much, much shorter and easily-remembered replies:
1) "None of those scientists would tolerate criticism of their own hard work by climatologists, because climatologists may be PhDs, but they don't work in the same field. They'd just ignore them the same as they'd ignore astrologers. Why should the climatologists give a crap about their ignorant opinions? I certainly don't".
(Note the outright insults in there. This what they do, and deserve no better.)
2) "You gotta see 'Merchants of Doubt'. It so debunks all these pretenders, and it's screamingly funny, too. After seeing it, I actually crack up at some of their guff that you're showing me."
(The movie's not funny, but but saying so will make them watch it...you may have noticed lately that they can't stand being laughed at.)
3) "Oh, Lord, are you guys still snivelling about having lost? The military has been preparing for climate change for decades already. Exxon moved all the oil platforms up a metre to handle the sea level rise. The general populace passed 60% after all the big wildfires in California and Australia, the heat waves. The investor money is putting tens of billions into solar and wind, and you know those people really control the world. They're really why governments are now all-in on electric, all over the world, not just the polls. You've lost, obviously: now you're just whining about it."
...see? None of that takes science research, and frankly, it's far more damaging to their worldview. Review:
#1 is dismissive and insulting. Sauce for the goose.
#2 is mocking. Their kryptonite
#3 says they are not really on the side of Power, not anymore, that the rug has been jerked out.
...which, by the way, is the simple truth. They're now a rear-guard action, slowing the pursuit of the fleeing army. #1 is right for total strangers, #2 for friends who can take a joke, #3 for family.
Your response couldn't be more timely. I just wrote a comment to an Andrew Dessler article talking about climate modeling. "Hi Andrew, this is a useful post, thank you. I like the article, learned a few things about climate modeling, but I'm not the audience you need to reach. For the masses, it needs to be dumbed down and made visceral. This is not a criticism, but an observation from someone who used to work in marketing as a graphic designer for a long time. Three years ago, I decided to use my abilities to bridge this gap between science and communication. I appreciate your work. Here is my most recent article."
When Biden had his disastrous debate a month ago, I kept thinking what a mistake he was making trying to talk policy. He was fighting an ignorant bully. He should have been slinging insults. A convicted felon. A rapist. No end of material.
Intellectual arguments fail with most of the public. We have to get into the weeds and defeat them at their very low level.
Yeah, Big Oil and the military know what's up. I wrote about it when Willow was approved. Filthy quid pro quo politics and lots of evidence stunningly available from published military analysis. This one was admittedly likely too much for the knuckle draggers.
Most people operate on emotion, not intellect, even if they don't recognize it. That's where we have to operate, too. That's how the woefully ignorant far right is hanging on.
I am impressed by the amount of research you did for this. I hope your readers are able to use it to make a difference.
It is extremely difficult to reason with people whose minds are filled with disinformation from questionable sources, as I know from a member of my own family. Just getting them to pick up a mainstream newspaper (one of the few reliable sources of information left to the general public) and read about what is going on in the world doesn't seem to penetrate. The evidence is all around us!
Thank you. This one did require a lot of research. Unfortunately, there were other points in the movie that needed to be attacked. Why, for instance, evidence of much higher CO2 concentrations when dinosaurs roamed is not a good argument for unabated GHGs going into the atmosphere! Pushing 3000 words, I decided to hold it to profiles of the "experts" and the dubious places that led me. The evidence is indeed all around us, we can no longer say the events of the last few years aren't a direct result of global warming. There are countless outlets abusing the privilege of free speech, peddling lies about so many things, it's little wonder where we are.
Thank you for watching it. That had to be painful. Lol. My question is, how many of them actually believe this bullshit and how many are just paid to spew it?
I would love to know the answer to that. Being physicists, I would like to assume a certain amount of intelligence, but I know that advanced degrees don't necessarily mean advanced thinking. In fact, that can mean narrower thinking, seeing the world only through your specialty. I didn't find any information on what these guys were paid for participating in the movie, or for being on boards or speaking, but one always has to wonder about money. If they know what they're putting out there are lies, that's unforgivable. Maybe they figure they need as much money as possible as the planet becomes more inhospitable.
So would I. Especially with all the extreme weather events, wildfires, and the overheating of the oceans, etc. I honestly come to either a) they're in deep denial, b) they're being willfully ignorant, c) they're being paid to lie, d) they're just greedy psychopaths, e) all of the above 🤔
That seems to cover the possibilities. I don't know how long you've been a reader, but a couple of years ago I speculated that the goal is a population reduction. Now, I know how crazy that sounds — like an unhinged, paranoid, right-wing, automatic weapon toting loon — but there's sickly logic to the thought. Like the motivation of these physicists, it's unknowable, but it did give me a good excuse to go on a rant! https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/circumstantial-evidence
Dude, you're right. Absolutely spot on. The wealthy fuckers bloodlines run throughout history. They want all the money. They're tired of "sharing the wealth". Macron forced through the bill to raise the retirement age, AARP's ads hint at people not retiring, they're allowing Covid to spread unmitigated. Micro plastics in everyone's blood streams. The ruling class wants total control and the fewer of us to fight back, the better😢
Those who made "The Merchants of Doubt" were quite clear on that: they believe.
They were paid only expenses, not consulting fees consummate with their advanced degrees. They were/are ideologues, that's why they did it. Just got a bee in their bonnet, and unlike my good self, who confines to screaming at 'social' media strangers, they figured they could use their accreditation and retirement to Make A Difference.
There were always PhD ideologues, for Marxism, Lysenkoism, Phrenology; Ivy Leaguers talked America into the Iraq War, and their dads had deep scientific rationales for the Viet Cong giving up real soon now.
"Man is not a rational animal; he's a rationalizing animal" (Heinlein).
Thank you! I can only imagine the hair tearing hours this took. It's a brilliant piece of investigation for those of us too exhausted to do the leg work ourselves.
Yeah, it took a lot, but since I can, I should. Thank you, Margi.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you possessing the definition of morality and exercising the most ethical practices. Only outdone by your work ethic.
RESPECT
Thank you, sir, for the high praise.
You are most welcome, Sir!
Doing the chores on the farm is drudgery. Doing the chores for mankind is a peek into hell. I am grateful for your efforts!
Great piece. I KNOW from experience how much work goes into these articles. You did a fantastic job.
Thank you. It was a complete pain in the ass, but had to be done. Ultimately, it gives people like us more power. These charlatans like this need to be exposed and easily cast aside. BTW, I know you know.
Thank you for this handy reference guide to the main deniers!
Watching this propaganda made it absolutely necessary. We have to know the enemy to defeat them.
Thanks for the research on this and I understand and share your frustration on refuting the lies. I've attempted to counter the climate change deniers with "We live on a finite planet with finite resources and we need to start conserving them now. Regardless of climate change." Not even that works. Ever try to convince a flat earther the world is round? Good luck with that. If you were able to boot their ass into orbit they'd still believe the earth is flat since they couldn't see the back side. Ask them how thick the earth is. It's good for a laugh at least.
It's also advisable to keep in mind that it's primarily the PhDs who are responsible for the current problems (along with the political economic systems.) The "experts" are all after the same things- money and prestige. If the devil has the paycheck they'll side with him. The biggest problem is that one has to convince the believers of the "expert" idiots that those experts are really idiots but those believers don't have the intelligence to understand the concepts or science of what is being discussed. They only understand the "Dr" in front of the name. And if you don't have a bigger "Dr" in front of your name you are dismissed.
It's called propaganda. It's very effective.
Money is the new definition of intelligence. Science "truth" is now being defined by money.
Try to stay sane. It's getting harder by the day.
A friend of mine told me "I never thought I was smart until I took a look at all the dummies around me".
I dreaded doing this one, but that awful film had to be addressed. I suppose for many people if they see the word "physicist" that ends the conversation, but that just isn't so. I figure if we can change one in ten of those immersed in one lie or another, we've done well. I have a cousin who's down the right-wing rabbit hole. She referred to something Heartland put out a while back. At least I know about those clowns now, and understand the connections. Maybe that will be useful to me — if I ever see her again. She seems to have slipped away. Sad. These are extreme times on every front. It's difficult to comprehend just how toxic and stupid most of our leadership is, seemingly soulless.
I just read the comments and the one where you mentioned population reduction.
Population is the driving force behind climate change, ecocide and most of not all the other major problems in the world. Overpopulation to be precise. Advanced technology however, would never have been developed without the increase in population and resulting communication systems. It's a catch 22 cycle. Technology allows more efficient farming, advanced medical, transportation, housing etc which results in a population explosion. In the past the population has been controlled by nature via plagues or natural disasters and limited food supplies. Technology has changed that system to the point where the planet is now overburdened.
Putting it in a different perspective if the population was half a billion the continued use of fossil fuels would not result in climate change. The population explosion problem has been known for over 100 years and the "tipping point" has been reached. The only solution is for a drastic reduction in population. There is no such thing as green energy given the available technology. Fusion, geothermal, hydroelectric might be possible but are not available and would take years to develop but even then would not be able to sustain a continuous rapidly growing population. This is the "Inconvenient Truth" which is not being discussed. The solutions to climate change are all technologically based which are the cause of climate change. An attempt at putting out the fire with gasoline. Quite literally, while not addressing the actual cause of the problem which is overpopulation. It's no wonder why the political establishment is dancing around the problem facing civilization.
I'll leave it at that.
Yes, population is a primary issue, and any creature that outstrips its resources is destined for a population crash. This essay by Justin McAffee is a great illustration of how we have reached that point in the past, well before FFs were discovered.
https://collapsecurriculum.substack.com/p/what-might-post-collapse-look-like
Talking about population is a contentious issue. Many point out rightly that the grotesque overconsumption by the wealthiest nations (particularly the one and two per centers) is what we should address. I agree with that, but raw population is core as well. We would never have reached 8bn on the planet without FFs, and they ARE running out regardless of how it looks when we buy a tank of gas. The electric economy depends on FFs, particularly diesel, to run heavy equipment for mining, and of course that is another form of environmental destruction as are turbine and solar farms which will continue to feed the 6th Extinction from habitat loss. I agree, technology is not going to save us, but we're going to pretend as long as we can, because that makes the system money and power. It's difficult to see any way out of this. Degrowth would offer hope, but we can't even stop slaughtering each other from hatreds going back hundreds or even thousands of years. We can be a cooperative communal species on a small scale, but ultimately our tribal hatred stops us from creating what should be heaven on Earth, with all we have been gifted, but mindlessly destroy.
All I can say is that we're in complete agreement. Sorry I can't send you some money but I'm probably worse off than you. Sounds like we followed the same path except you were in graphic design and I was in engineering both ending up in "handyman" status. Disgusting.
Good luck and keep writing!
Yup! All I got…..🤷♂️
I don't like the sound of that, yup. Are you a secret denier, Hudson?
NOT I could not agree with you more enthusiastically. Everything you’ve ever said since I met you. You are always hitting the nail square on the head with not only accuracy but, deadly power.
I’ve been 100% all in with his science since the 70s. I just fail to remember PT Barnum’s absolute concerning the demographic. Often, sadly.
“Never underestimate the stupidity of the average American”
Thank you, Hudson, much appreciated. Here's a quote from someone I miss a lot.
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” — George Carlin
Truth.
THAT!!!
I’m having a hard time denying that we have zero chance in hell of complex life form surviving, that’s what I am having a hard time denying….
Talk about taking all the fun out of #IToldYouSo
George knew what he was talking about😕
And yet, everyone I meet knows something useful that I don’t already know…
iPhone dictation does not recognize tense today….🤷♂️
I do deny seeing any silver lining….
Cool😊 That we certainly do🫤 Humans aren't the brightest species on the planet.
Clever enough to be remarkably stupid. : )
🤣😂🤣
Heinlein was 100% correct.
I read Heinlein in my teens. Honestly, I don't remember his books well, other than enjoying them. One thing for certain, we make science fiction come true rather than heeding its warning.
Cool😊 That we do🫤 Humans aren't the brightest species on the planet.
Actually skipped your column, after many years of research and of course the great "Merchants of Doubt".
I've given up all that technical argument, I've fallen to their level, and frankly, it's working for me, the stress and frustration are gone. Some of my own, much, much shorter and easily-remembered replies:
1) "None of those scientists would tolerate criticism of their own hard work by climatologists, because climatologists may be PhDs, but they don't work in the same field. They'd just ignore them the same as they'd ignore astrologers. Why should the climatologists give a crap about their ignorant opinions? I certainly don't".
(Note the outright insults in there. This what they do, and deserve no better.)
2) "You gotta see 'Merchants of Doubt'. It so debunks all these pretenders, and it's screamingly funny, too. After seeing it, I actually crack up at some of their guff that you're showing me."
(The movie's not funny, but but saying so will make them watch it...you may have noticed lately that they can't stand being laughed at.)
3) "Oh, Lord, are you guys still snivelling about having lost? The military has been preparing for climate change for decades already. Exxon moved all the oil platforms up a metre to handle the sea level rise. The general populace passed 60% after all the big wildfires in California and Australia, the heat waves. The investor money is putting tens of billions into solar and wind, and you know those people really control the world. They're really why governments are now all-in on electric, all over the world, not just the polls. You've lost, obviously: now you're just whining about it."
...see? None of that takes science research, and frankly, it's far more damaging to their worldview. Review:
#1 is dismissive and insulting. Sauce for the goose.
#2 is mocking. Their kryptonite
#3 says they are not really on the side of Power, not anymore, that the rug has been jerked out.
...which, by the way, is the simple truth. They're now a rear-guard action, slowing the pursuit of the fleeing army. #1 is right for total strangers, #2 for friends who can take a joke, #3 for family.
Your response couldn't be more timely. I just wrote a comment to an Andrew Dessler article talking about climate modeling. "Hi Andrew, this is a useful post, thank you. I like the article, learned a few things about climate modeling, but I'm not the audience you need to reach. For the masses, it needs to be dumbed down and made visceral. This is not a criticism, but an observation from someone who used to work in marketing as a graphic designer for a long time. Three years ago, I decided to use my abilities to bridge this gap between science and communication. I appreciate your work. Here is my most recent article."
https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/no-fury-like-a-planet-scorned
When Biden had his disastrous debate a month ago, I kept thinking what a mistake he was making trying to talk policy. He was fighting an ignorant bully. He should have been slinging insults. A convicted felon. A rapist. No end of material.
Intellectual arguments fail with most of the public. We have to get into the weeds and defeat them at their very low level.
Yeah, Big Oil and the military know what's up. I wrote about it when Willow was approved. Filthy quid pro quo politics and lots of evidence stunningly available from published military analysis. This one was admittedly likely too much for the knuckle draggers.
https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/massive-alaska-willow-drilling-project
Most people operate on emotion, not intellect, even if they don't recognize it. That's where we have to operate, too. That's how the woefully ignorant far right is hanging on.
Excellent work Geoffrey.
Thank you. Not fun, but needed to be done. That movie on the surface was convincing to those who are less informed. It had to be debunked.
I didn't watch it but saw how many contributing scientists were industry funded. I've watched from 2020 how the covid debacle was used by Heartland to spread climate denial nonsense. https://jowaller.substack.com/p/health-freedumb-has-turned-out-exactly
Geoff: That's one movie I will not watch! Thanks as always.
I am impressed by the amount of research you did for this. I hope your readers are able to use it to make a difference.
It is extremely difficult to reason with people whose minds are filled with disinformation from questionable sources, as I know from a member of my own family. Just getting them to pick up a mainstream newspaper (one of the few reliable sources of information left to the general public) and read about what is going on in the world doesn't seem to penetrate. The evidence is all around us!
Thank you. This one did require a lot of research. Unfortunately, there were other points in the movie that needed to be attacked. Why, for instance, evidence of much higher CO2 concentrations when dinosaurs roamed is not a good argument for unabated GHGs going into the atmosphere! Pushing 3000 words, I decided to hold it to profiles of the "experts" and the dubious places that led me. The evidence is indeed all around us, we can no longer say the events of the last few years aren't a direct result of global warming. There are countless outlets abusing the privilege of free speech, peddling lies about so many things, it's little wonder where we are.
Thank you for watching it. That had to be painful. Lol. My question is, how many of them actually believe this bullshit and how many are just paid to spew it?
I would love to know the answer to that. Being physicists, I would like to assume a certain amount of intelligence, but I know that advanced degrees don't necessarily mean advanced thinking. In fact, that can mean narrower thinking, seeing the world only through your specialty. I didn't find any information on what these guys were paid for participating in the movie, or for being on boards or speaking, but one always has to wonder about money. If they know what they're putting out there are lies, that's unforgivable. Maybe they figure they need as much money as possible as the planet becomes more inhospitable.
So would I. Especially with all the extreme weather events, wildfires, and the overheating of the oceans, etc. I honestly come to either a) they're in deep denial, b) they're being willfully ignorant, c) they're being paid to lie, d) they're just greedy psychopaths, e) all of the above 🤔
That seems to cover the possibilities. I don't know how long you've been a reader, but a couple of years ago I speculated that the goal is a population reduction. Now, I know how crazy that sounds — like an unhinged, paranoid, right-wing, automatic weapon toting loon — but there's sickly logic to the thought. Like the motivation of these physicists, it's unknowable, but it did give me a good excuse to go on a rant! https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/circumstantial-evidence
Dude, you're right. Absolutely spot on. The wealthy fuckers bloodlines run throughout history. They want all the money. They're tired of "sharing the wealth". Macron forced through the bill to raise the retirement age, AARP's ads hint at people not retiring, they're allowing Covid to spread unmitigated. Micro plastics in everyone's blood streams. The ruling class wants total control and the fewer of us to fight back, the better😢
Those who made "The Merchants of Doubt" were quite clear on that: they believe.
They were paid only expenses, not consulting fees consummate with their advanced degrees. They were/are ideologues, that's why they did it. Just got a bee in their bonnet, and unlike my good self, who confines to screaming at 'social' media strangers, they figured they could use their accreditation and retirement to Make A Difference.
There were always PhD ideologues, for Marxism, Lysenkoism, Phrenology; Ivy Leaguers talked America into the Iraq War, and their dads had deep scientific rationales for the Viet Cong giving up real soon now.
"Man is not a rational animal; he's a rationalizing animal" (Heinlein).