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skipvia commented on the word bad science
Empirical facts that contradict your beliefs and are therefore just wrong.
October 11, 2007
uselessness commented on the word bad science
Doesn't "bad science" usually refer to dishonest research, agenda-driven experiments, and disregard for the scientific method? In other words, it's not real science. But your definition sounds more like it is real science, just inconvenient for certain worldviews.
October 11, 2007
skipvia commented on the word bad science
Exactly. True believers or financial stakeholders use the term "bad science" when they need to ignore a fact. For example, global warming is "bad science," according to Rep. Don Young. Evolution is "bad science" according to evangelicals. So are carbon dating and plate techtonics. Smoking's link to cancer was "bad science" to the tobacco industry for years.
October 12, 2007
john commented on the word bad science
I thought it was a cheesewa eighties movie with Michael Anthony Hall.
Oh wait, that was Weird Science.
October 12, 2007
uselessness commented on the word bad science
Mmm, and Kelly LeBrock...
But skipvia, there are plenty of real scientists who would dismiss spurious "research" as bad science, not because they disagree but because it's simply not scientific. In that case, you're not dealing with empirical facts, you're dealing with rhetoric and spin.
October 12, 2007
skipvia commented on the word bad science
I don't dispute your connotation, uselessness--I was just referring to the way "bad science" has been used in the vernacular to dismiss facts that don't favor beliefs. As Stephen Colbert said about George Bush, he forms his facts based on his beliefs.
October 12, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word bad science
That's it. I've been meaning to make a Colbert Nation list for a while. Thanks for reminding me.
October 12, 2007
reesetee commented on the word bad science
Oh, there must be one of them around here somewhere....
October 12, 2007
uselessness commented on the word bad science
Okay skipvia, gotcha. Real science is always amoral and objective, but there's a lot of pseudoscience out there that rightfully earns the "bad science" title. But yeah, it's a shame that the phrase's meaning has changed in the vernacular.
October 12, 2007