Limbaugh, dammit! It is science!
April 23rd, 2007 Central Archivist Posted in Commentary |
ONCE MORE RUSH LIMBAUGH opens his mouth and steps in it. During a call in to his show today (2007-04-23) one caller took him to task for his claims there is no consensus in science. Limbaugh has been making this argument on a regular basis in regards to global warming because some article on the subject said there was a scientific consensus on the subject.
The caller pointed out that scientists reach consensus all the time. Limbaugh countered that science is not up to a vote (which is true), whereupon the caller told him that consensus does not mean voting (which is also true).
Now, during the discussion Limbaugh claimed the “consensus” argument did not originate with him but with “scientists” like Michael Crichton. Toward the end of the discussion, Limbaugh conceded that there is consensus among scientists, but it isn’t actually science, and only rises to the level of “theory.”
Mr. Limbaugh, a couple of points:
1) There is consensus in science. It is the consensus of scientists that birds are the descendents of therapod dinosaurs. It is the consensus of scientists that there is a black hole at the center of the galaxy. It is a consensus of scientists that HIV causes AIDS. Note that not 100 percent of the scientific community agrees with these positions. However, the majority do, which means they’ve reached a consensus on the status of those points.
2) We cannot emphasize enough that “theory” in the scientific sense is not the same as “theory” in the common usage. A theory in science is the highest level of scientific opinion. A scientific theory is not only supported by the evidence, but it can be used to predict other phenomena associated with the subject. In other words, a scientific theory is the closest science gets to describing reality. So, if you claim global warming is “just a theory” you are assigning it the status of an accurate model of reality (whether you meant to or not).
Mr. Limbaugh, please stick with politics. When you make forays into the scientific realm you merely show yourself to be abysmally ignorant.
Previous Limbaugh gaffs:
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