I considered the last Vociferation I posted to be somewhat lackluster, so I put forth more effort into this issue. This one is both about Climate Change and a common argument I hear from people I debate which I have wanted to tackle for some time.
I find it iritating when I rattle off some study or fact and a person points out to me how studies can be manipulated or how scientists can be paid to produce a result. It does not iritate me because it is untrute. I am well aware of how facts can be skewed. The problem I have that line of reasoning is that no one ever explains to me why the particular fact or study I have cited is wrong. I want to know the why and how. To me, saying a study can be fabricated would be like telling me my grandmother has the capacity to lie and therefore I should not believe a word she says.
Yes, studies can be wrong and facts can be presented in such a way to be misleading. It is good to question them given this fact, but it is never good to dismiss something out of hand merely because it can be manipulated. If that were the case, we could believe nothing.
Everyone should have the courage to dig a little deeper and confirm whether or not the evidence is true or false. Both for things we should be skeptical of, like our government, and of the things we place trust in, like institutions of science.
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