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Jack

Non Sequitir an/or something else?

 

My reading of the current science is that the statement that "global climate change to a significant degree is caused by human activity" is not supported by evidence. I may be wrong, but most (not all) of those who claim that I am wrong stand on a much shakier ground than me.

The bit about the science of climate change not being supported by the evidence does not make much sense to me. Perhaps not a non-sequitir and more of a wild accusation?

asked on Thursday, Dec 23, 2021 06:34:24 AM by Jack

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
3

My reading of the current science is that the statement that "global climate change to a significant degree is caused by human activity" is not supported by evidence.

Who cares what this person's "reading" is. Are they a climatologist? Are they even a scientist? This is an opinion, and one that might not even matter.

 I may be wrong, but most (not all) of those who claim that I am wrong stand on a much shakier ground than me. 

I can appreciate the humility here at least. It is not clear whether this person is referring to scientific background or evidence here as being on "shakier ground." This, again, is opinion. Saying this is not problematic in itself. They are basically saying that their opinion holds more weight because they have the credentials or evidence to back it up, where the others that simply reject their claim have neither. That is all fine and dandy. However, this only gives their opinion more credibility compared to the opinions of the "others on shakier ground" referred to, NOT compared to the scientific consensus or the actual facts. They did not make this claim, so we shouldn't call them on it.

One last thought about this... the claim "on much shakier ground" can be completely wrong. This person can be a climatologist (have the expertise) and have lots of evidence for their claim, but for some ideological reason, ignoring all the evidence against their claim (i.e., ignoring the convergence of evidence in the field). The person claimed to be "on much shakier ground" could be a layman (non-scientist) who can't recite even one piece of evidence on climate change, but is well aware of the global consensus. It still boils down to an opinion, and has no effect on the truth of the claim.

answered on Thursday, Dec 23, 2021 07:38:04 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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Jack writes:

It was the bit about the science of climate change not being supported by evidence that confused me a bit because the science clearly is supported by the evidence. Also, this kind of sounded to me like saying that evidence isn't supported by evidence.

On the other point, they claimed to be a scientist in other areas. This wasn't a debate with me. But in all fairness, this person was debating someone who made the claim that all climate scientists don't know what they are talking about.

posted on Thursday, Dec 23, 2021 08:14:39 AM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:

[To Jack]

It is still an opinion. Who cares what a non-climatologist thinks about the science of climatology? If they have some brilliant insight, let them present their evidence to climatologists. Of course, they will most likely cry "conspiracy" and claim that their views won't be taken seriously because of "corruption" rather than the fact that their views are based on ignorance and are not worthy of being taken seriously.

[ login to reply ] posted on Thursday, Dec 23, 2021 08:20:27 AM
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Jason Mathias
1

"My reading of the current science"  (subjective opinion) " is that the statement that "global climate change to a significant degree is caused by human activity" is not supported by evidence"  (this is just an opinion as well as a false premise) . "I may be wrong,"  (you are) " but most (not all) of those who claim that I am wrong stand on a much shakier ground than me"  (no explanation or evidence given, so its an unsupported claim) .

 

 

answered on Friday, Dec 24, 2021 10:05:12 AM by Jason Mathias

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Dr. Richard
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As stated it is simply an opinion. There are equally qualified climatologists on both sides of this issue. If one relies solely upon the opinion of experts and does not read the underlying basis for the opinion, then you resolve the question by choosing which expert's opinion you want to accept.

answered on Friday, Dec 24, 2021 09:12:00 AM by Dr. Richard

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