Climate Politics Will Eat Itself

by | Mar 16, 2010

The public opinion expert’s opinion on the public’s opinion of experts is that the public still have confidence in the experts.

(H/t: Roger Pielke)

3 Comments

  1. Luke Warmer

    I think he’s going to find that the survey needs better resolution. It’s only based on 5 points and they sum 5, 4, and 3 (“completely”, “a lot” or a “moderate amount”.) If you only moderately trusted your doctor/spouse/business partner/boss that would be a disaster.

    After glossing over Climategate, I note his opinion that the other problem is the “detection of a small error in reporting findings in an IPCC report”. The use of the singular and the magnitude small is also interesting, although the timing has to be taken into consideration.

    I like the possible irony that he notes that public opinion “changes very slowly, changes glacially”. Is glacially the right metaphor for alarmists? (not saying he is one, specifically)

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  2. Editors

    Luke – “I like the possible irony that he notes that public opinion “changes very slowly, changes glacially”.”

    Another irony is that he knows that public opinion changes slowly because he’s been (unsuccessfully, it seems) trying to change it. He’s an advocate who tries to change it while he studies it. Nothing wrong with that, except that his premise “climate change is happening”, and therefore something ‘psychological’ can explain anyone why someone might think differently. Another irony, then, is that his studies say more about him than their intended subject.

    Reply
  3. Peter S

    Only Pop eats itself – Climate politics feeds itself.

    And with the question of ‘does psychology precede the politics’ very much left dangling here, we can only wonder at the Editor’s title for this piece on a video in which the only noteworthy content is the quantity of half-consumed snacks (and pop) littering the expert’s work-desk.

    Climate change, of course, is all about incontinence – the need to control what comes out of humans… and the corresponding demand for an external authority to control what goes in. Appetites can be the saboteur of the most virtuous intentions and the most effective way of getting rid of an unwanted one – if its emergence becomes an obstacle to that intent – is to drip-feed it with ‘cures’ like Diet Coke and cashews (having seen the video, the Editors will be aware that ‘nuts’ is another word for madness). Of course this ends up with the incontinent preaching continence – as does our ‘expert’ – but hey, isn’t that another way of saying the psychology precedes the politics?

    Reply

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