This is why science deniers deny. They want to give the impression that there is an actual legitimate “debate” over scientific conclusions supported by mountains of evidence; e.g., climate change, vaccines, the ineffectiveness of alternative medicine, evolution, etc. 1/
In other areas of science not as well settled (e.g., #COVID19), they seek to undermine current scientific consensus by vastly exaggerating the evidence behind minority and fringe positions and mischaracterizing and minimizing evidence in support of current consensus. 2/
They then add to this technique conspiracy theories to “explain” why the fringe science is dismissed and not taken seriously by relevant experts and fake experts (plus the odd real expert turned fringe) to give the appearance of authority to fringe viewpoints. 3/
The idea is to produce the impression of a legitimate scientific controversy where there is none. That’s how science denial works. 4/4

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More from @gorskon

11 Oct
Because they're mostly not scientists, and few of the actual scientists are epidemiologists, and because they are spewing disinformation. #barringtondeclaration is propaganda, not science. 1/
#COVID19 deniers and conspiracy theorists are taking a page from a old crank playbook. Does anyone remember "Scientific Dissent from Darwinism" and "Physicians and Surgeons Who Dissent from Darwinism"? These were similar "declarations" against evolution and for creationism. 2/
Or what about the open letter by the "Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis" calling for a "thorough reappraisal of the existing evidence for and against this hypothesis [HIV-AIDS] be conducted by a suitable independent group"? 3/ sidasante.com/contacts/group…
Read 5 tweets
22 Jul
Dumbest idea ever: A vaccine "debate" between two lawyers, @AlanDersh and @RobertKennedyJr, neither of whom has significant scientific knowledge about vaccines, and one of whom is rabidly antivaccine. 1/ ageofautism.com/2020/07/vaccin…
This sort of nonsense is what I like to call, "All Truth Comes from Live Public Debate." It's a favorite crank trope that serves two purposes. 2/ respectfulinsolence.com/2013/04/26/all…
Basically, this tactic serves two purposes for the crank. First, it allows cranks to appear on the same stage/venue as seemingly an equal to an actual authority, thus giving the appearance that their viewpoint is worth serious consideration scientifically or based on evidence. 3/
Read 6 tweets
22 Jun
@thereal_truther @hbhbglenn1 @Melissa08972285 @delbigtree @uTobian It's also a 20-year-old conspiracy theory that we old timers demolished when @RobertKennedyJr first published it almost exactly 15 years ago today. Let's just put it this way. The transcript doesn't show any conspiracy or coverup or data manipulation. skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/…
@thereal_truther @hbhbglenn1 @Melissa08972285 @delbigtree @uTobian @RobertKennedyJr I read the whole thing back in the day, and let's just say that I was underwhelmed by it as evidence of any sort of malfeasance. What I saw were scientists soberly addressing a concern and examining the evidence. oracknows.blogspot.com/2005/06/skepti…
@thereal_truther @hbhbglenn1 @Melissa08972285 @delbigtree @uTobian @RobertKennedyJr I also examined @RobertKennedyJr's conspiracyfest of an article that popularized the Simpsonwood conspiracy theory. It was full of cherry-picking, unsupported assertions, and, yes, conspiracy mongering. oracknows.blogspot.com/2005/06/salonc…
Read 11 tweets
29 May
So there's a new disinformation campaign going around about masks in which @FoxNews and its sycophants, toadies, and lackeys cite @WHO recommendations that only people who are sick or who are taking care of patients with #COVID19 should wear a mask. 1/ foxnews.com/world/who-guid…
The headline of the article seems to imply that the recommendation is new, but the videos on the @WHO website linked to date back to early March and February. This part gives the game away: “The recommendation has not changed…” 2/
Some outlets, like @NYPost, ran the story and didn't even acknowledge that the @WHO recommendation is at least three months old, cutting out the part about the recommendation not having changed. 3/ nypost.com/2020/05/28/hea…
Read 5 tweets
11 May
This is not new. It has actually been a long time coming. I've been writing about how antivaxxers have coopted far right rhetoric and have been becoming more extreme. Unfortunately #COVID19 has accelerated the process. 1/
For instance, in the 2016 election @delbigtree visited Michigan and ranted on about standing and, if necessary, dying for freedom, as his group went around buttonholing state legislators. 2/ respectfulinsolence.com/2016/10/28/nob…
Before that, Bigtree was on video saying "Now's the time for guns." 3/ respectfulinsolence.com/2016/07/20/the…
Read 18 tweets
7 May
Just a word. Although I first thought it was a DDoS attack, Cloudflare support says no. It's just a crapton of traffic. This post has gone viral in a way that (I think) no other post in my 15 year blogging career has. 1/
Even with Cloudflare the site has been intermittently crashing under the load, and the hosting service is working on it. (My plan is too basic and probably needs to be upgraded, at least temporarily.) The theme had to be changed because the usual theme was causing problems. 2/
A crapton of new commenters have infiltrated, many of them #COVID19 conspiracy theorists and Judy Mikovits fans. I haven't been able to moderate comments for a couple of hours now because I can't log onto WordPress. 3/
Read 5 tweets

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