[extropy-chat] Doubt and About

[Harvey Newstrom]

Olga wrote,
> Subsequent article in CSICOP touched on skeptical views on life extension
and global warming:
>
> <http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/abuses/>

Excellent article.  At first, skepticism was a scientific tool used to
critically analyze assumptions and verify facts.  Now we have copycats who
are acting like skeptics to give their unfounded beliefs an air of
scientific authority.  As the article notes, people who are "skeptical"
about evolution or global warming are merely pretending to be skeptics
without the underlying science.  This is the same as Christian "Scientists"
or Creation "Science" trying to pretend that their religious beliefs are as
rigorous as real science.  It is too easy to fall into this trap.  People
easily fall into a mode where they act like they are experts and they have
no real concept of how science or the underlying technology really work.  I
am afraid that there are more faux experts than real experts in the public
spotlight today.  It is easier to be a consumer, commentator, political
activists, strategy consultant, public educator, or whatever in a field of
"expertise" without really going through all the trouble of really learning
the field.  This is the biggest threat to science and by extension to
transhumanism facing us today.  The world of science is being diluted with
pseudoscience, and it is very difficult for the laypeople to tell the
difference.

-- 
Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, CISA, CISM, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC
Certified IS Security Pro, Certified IS Auditor, Certified InfoSec Manager,
NSA Certified Assessor, IBM Certified Consultant, SANS Certified GIAC
<HarveyNewstrom.com> <Newstaff.com>