Political Blindness, Scientific Illiteracy, and Dummies

You probably already knew this, but for those who didn't here's a truism we've noticed many a time here at the Antisocial Network headquarters: whether the topic is climate change, vaccines, pollution, or any other complex question; pretty soon some politician (or troll) is going to utter a sentence beginning with that now-famous phrase, "I'm not a scientist but..." When you hear those words, you can be fairly certain you're about to be transported to the Scientific Illiteracy Zone. What's perhaps saddest is that way too many people live there 24/7/365.

Here's an example of one of such illiterate, whom we found commenting on an press release by former Congressman John Culberson¹ (R, Texas 7th), at the time the recently appointed chair of the House Subcommittee that oversees science spending. A gent named Scott West, propounding on climate change, claims to be "a geology major and amateur mineralogist" (although his Facebook page says he works for an insurance company, an unlikely career for a "scientist"). In a comment to Rep. Culberson's website, Mr. West states the following: "Without greenhouse gas, the earth's dark side would likely go below freezing every eve., regardless of your position on the planet."

While West is certainly correct, he fails to see the forest for the trees. NASA (over whose budget Culberson will now exercise his lack of expertise – you should note that, while getting a BA in history, Culberson took exactly one science course – has itself published a statement that contains within it the germ of that misconception:

"Without naturally occurring greenhouse gases, Earth's average temperature would be near 0°F (or -18°C) instead of the much warmer 59°F (15°C)."

Climate scientists do not blame greenhouse gases for undesirable changes in climate, they blame excess greenhouse gases; as was pointed out in a subsequent paragraph of the NASA article. In the "35 years [of] studying, reading, digesting and some research into earth's past climate" Mr. West claims, he must have skipped over that paragraph (and thousands of others that say the same thing).

For his inability to read past the single snippet of information that supports his politico-scientific beliefs (confirmation bias, in other words), Scott West is today's recipient of the coveted Dumbass of the Day Award.

¹ Culberson lost his seat in the House in 2018, so the article disappeared with him. You can still see it at archive.org, however, with the URL   culberson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398207

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