Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Twilight Zone: On Lug Nuts and Climate modelling

Introduction for his show from Rod Serling (creator of the classic TV series The Twilight Zone)
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call "The Twilight Zone".

Because world knowledge is doubling every fortnight (actually I'm not sure of the time unit but I'm pretty sure it is small) we seem to be abdicating our responsibility to manage said knowledge and the implications of what it means.
COMPUTERS ushered in this knowledge era but I sense they are not up to the task of managing it. Unfortunately, a new cult of "modelers" have ascended and the "rest of us" out of ignorance or laziness have handed them the controls.
Consider that the most powerful supercomputers in the world still can't interpret a facial expression or the meaning conveyed by the use of inflection in a comment.
OK, if your with me on that then ask why we don't approve drugs with computer models but instead insist of extensive clinical trials.

The entire premise for the CO2 emission hyseria - melting ice caps, tipping point, famine, pestilence, rising seas, hurricnes, tornados, etc is based on computer models. Does any of this ring familiar ... "and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge."

I thought this quote form the article in the American Thinker puts it neatly.
Describing the compounded inaccuracies of these Johnny-come-lately modelers who would rather be funded than scientifically astute, Dr. Tim Ball, a former climate scientist at the University of Winnipeg sardonically clarifies: "The analogy that I use is that my car is not running that well, so I'm going to ignore the engine (which is the sun) and I'm going to ignore the transmission (which is the water vapor) and I'm going to look at one nut on the right rear wheel (which is the Human produced CO2) ... the science is that bad!"

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