Who Are These People?

See:-

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23779546-climate-change-sceptics-are-todays-flat-earth-brigade.do

I am a fool. I am lacking in the most basic intellectual tools and am blind to the blatantly obvious. Not only this, I have some unaccountable and stupid distrust of ’scientists’, ‘experts’ and, astonishingly, politicians. This must be so because Ed Miliband, in the Evening Standard on Friday December 4, says so.

The proof of my mental incapacity lies in the fact that I am unsure of the reality of drastic climate change and its causes. In keeping, then, with the established policy of You are either with us or against us, I, and any questions I have, are justifiably dismissed and ridiculed. Some suitably denigrating descriptions must also be applied. After all, if you really want to diminish the opinions of those who question your theories, give them silly names. I am thus:-

• A member of the flat-earth brigade
• A denier
• A gainsayer (Good one that, very medieval with all that brings to mind.)

Almost all my working life has been as a technician, analysing and repairing electro-mechanical and electronic equipment. About thirty-five years of it, in fact. I have
repaired audio equipment, telephone exchanges and computers. During this time I have learned many things. (Many of them about myself rather than machines. Incidentally, I was an ‘expert’ once.)

One of the main lessons is that it is very difficult to correctly address a problem if you don’t understand it. If the root cause of a problem is not known then you run the risk of wasting time, money and effort. Also, if you apply the wrong solution you are very likely to make matters worse. So analysis must be as thorough as possible. Theories are developed and tested. Hypotheses are expounded and examined. It’s fine to even guess at the cause of a failure providing it can be ultimately shown to be true. (There is also the risk that if you get it wrong, regaining the trust of your customers is very difficult. This is something that applies to everything we do. Our politicians have conveniently short memories, it seems.)

I also learnt that you do not ignore the views, opinions and - very important - observations of others who may not be technical. There can be much value in the ideas of those who do not share your particular discipline.

An open mind is essential until it is perfectly clear what is going on. Only then can you develop the right fix and be sure that the problem will not return. As we stand today I do not believe that we have all the facts about Climate Change. That’s basically it. I do read articles and watch programmes on TV. Without going into the various pros and cons I feel (not a technical word) that the climate is changing, but I am not at all sure that mankind is to blame. This attitude may make me wrong but it doesn’t make me a fool. Having an economist tell me that I should not be an upstart and question The Scientists makes me very irritable indeed. (Even Stephen Hawking reversed his views on the behaviour of black holes after a gap of thirty years.)

I believe that if I cannot get someone round to my point of view it is most likely because I am wrong or because I have failed to put my case cogently. It is not usually because the other person is an idiot. Ed Miliband might care to consider this possibility as he read philosophy at college. But perhaps reading and digesting were not taking place simultaneously. A little like a Labour Government that talks much and achieves little.