Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Sigh. “Fake but accurate”: The Darwin lobby gets enmeshed in the latest climate change scandal

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

Recently, the Darwin lobby added a climate change desk, to much pop science fanfare.

Some of us figure that the lobby wants in on the money that is currently poured into climate change activism and that the climate change advocates, for their part, want the Darwin lobby’s court-ordered access to schools.

Be careful what you wish for.

In “National Center for Science Education, Darwin/Climate Enforcers, Humiliated by Forged Document Scandal” (Evolution News & Views, February 21, 2012), David Klinghoffer comments on the ensuing debacle,

The NCSE sought to ramp up its efforts on the climate front by enlarging its board of directors. Yet now our Darwin-lobbying friends have serious egg on their faces after making (not their first) unwise choice of associates. The group invited climate activist Peter H. Gleick of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, an ideological compatriot and neighbor in Oakland, CA, to join its board. Bad move. Gleick has just suffered a major ethical embarrassment, leading to a break with the NCSE and leaving the Darwin enforcers under a cloud.

Well, we already knew that the NCSE, which has never disavowed its link with anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist James Fetzer, has poor judgment in its choice of allies.

You’ve heard Gleick’s name if you’ve followed the recent Heartland Institute dustup. Last week, news media picked up a story of purloined internal documents detailing Heartland’s efforts to raise funds for its efforts to advance an idea — climate skepticism — that many liberals find abhorrent. The documents were mostly authentic and uninteresting, with a single exception: an incendiary memo that I could have told you was a fake.

The “incendiary memo” is that now-famous “fake but accurate” memo that Gleick now accepts responsibility for (he has offered an apology, blaming his critics).

We can understand NCSE wanting money and ink (that’s their job), but doesn’t this “fake but accurate” schtick focus attention on the exact reason people doubt Darwinism?: It sounds plausible to many but isn’t true.

Imagine if  “fake but accurate” standards were applied to the finds from the Large Hadron Collider? Instead of an injunction to find the Higgs boson or quit taking up valuable research time, we could have a whole faked physics going in no time at all.

“Fake but accurate” has a place – in historical dramas and reenactments, where everyone knows it’s fake and the standard is accuracy in fakery.

But then a friend wrote to remind us that Darwin lobbyist Eugenie Scott defended the use of Haeckel’s faked up embryos (one of the most famous fakes in biology) at a Texas schools hearing a few years ago.

After all, the fakes demonstrated Darwinian evolution. (And it’s pretty hard to find anything that isn’t fake that demonstrates Darwinian evolution.)

Perhaps the problem isn’t just with one man but with a whole mindset. The Darwin lobby’s work is all about a culture war and not really about science in the usual sense.

Follow UD News at Twitter!

Comments
Noam, I completely agree with you that ID has nothing to do with climate science. We need to keep in mind that whichever way the climate debate shakes out doesn't matter to ID. However, there are many striking similarities between the evolution debate and the climate debate: politics, approaches, tactics, and now with the NCSE involved, even some of the same players. It is certainly interesting to contemplate the similarities. And, BTW, you don't need to be ashamed about people having different ideas about climate change. There are a lot of legitimate environmental problems we've created and should help rectify. A trace amount of additional CO2 just isn't one of them. -------- After I wrote this I realized maybe you were being sarcastic. Did I just get pwned?Eric Anderson
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
03:22 PM
3
03
22
PM
PDT
The ID movement should not get involved in taking a stand on global warming. We humans are destroying this planet, the only one we have, and we need to fess up to our sinful ways and take action so that we do not destroy this planet. As an ID proponent I'm ashamed that so many ID advocates explain away the overwhelming evidence that our planet is dying.noam_ghish
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
02:40 PM
2
02
40
PM
PDT
"After all, the fakes demonstrated Darwinian evolution. (And it’s pretty hard to find anything that isn’t fake that demonstrates Darwinian evolution.)" Don't be nasty! Tee he.Axel
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
09:02 AM
9
09
02
AM
PDT
I'm shocked. SHOCKED. ha ha ha ha ha ha hatgpeeler
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
07:32 AM
7
07
32
AM
PDT
The NCSE is serving one good purpose- they have all the Coppedge vs JPL/ Cal Tech legal papers on their website. After reading through some of them I find it amazing that Coppedge didn't punch his boss in the mouth. BTW the pre-trial conference is tomorrow and the trial starts on March 7th.Joe
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
05:58 AM
5
05
58
AM
PDT
"Fake but accurate" LOL! What a contradiction in terms. Claiming it is accurate and actually proving it is accurate are two different things. There is no proof, only wild accusations. They certainly seem to want it to be accurate and wish it was accurate. They want to portray skeptics in this fashion as this whole incident so clearly shows, but there is NO evidence whatsoever that it is accurate. This is one of those useful lie type things the Darwinists love to take advantage of to get their ideas accepted by people.tjguy
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
05:47 AM
5
05
47
AM
PDT
And here I thought science was a search for truth. I guess the NCSE didn't understand what Linus Pauling was talking about.Barb
February 23, 2012
February
02
Feb
23
23
2012
05:28 AM
5
05
28
AM
PDT

Leave a Reply