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Me too!

I remember CRUSHING a class of final year engineers when I taught part of a renewable energy course. I explained to them how the planning system works, how politicians rarely make decisions based on evidence, so that even the most perfect engineering is more than likely to be rejected.

I can't help but appreciate where this is coming from. It’s an exhausting paradox: we’re taught that the truth sets us free, but in the world of politics, the truth just gets filed away in a drawer if it doesn't fit the pre-existing narrative of the people holding the pens.

Shocking and harrowing

So THAT’S what happened 🙃

Say it with me: “Covid is still airborne, indoor shared air carries pathogens” … yeah, I know, the truth is so often absolutely politically inexpedient. Still the truth.

Upton Sinclair on line one

The problem with politics is politicians! Lol!

I hear you, ma’am!

"'Tis always been thus." - W. Shakespeare

I’m amazed at the number of people who pontificate on things they have no clue about nor have they read any research on the subject, but they insist on proving to the universe how fucking stupid they are

That’s why Al Gore called his climate documentary An “Inconvenient” Truth.

In politics - which is the struggle among factions for resources… emotions trump facts Facts only matter when they are personally relevant. The proven & factual science of climate change - no one cares Your house is floating in the surge of a hurricane - you’re now a believer.

So sad.

I remember when I realized that research grants are not distributed on the basis of scientific ideas and ability but rather on grant writing skills and connections.

Yep. Heartbreaking. And they wonder why I’m a cynic.

We need more people like Dr Wilson. youtu.be/KhRZFw2DCBI?...

An Inconvenient Study | DEBUNKEDYouTube video by Debunk the Funk with Dr. Wilsonyoutu.be

Colbert quote from WHCD.“The truth lies right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say "I did look it up, and that's not true." That's 'cause you looked it up in a book.”

Or financially useful.

And hopefully you also learned that you can never PROVE anything. One can only disprove what doesn't work. 🙂

Because of xtianity. Entire generations have been groomed to believe without evidence, and so that toxicity permeates everything. They’ve also been groomed to follow blindly and so are easily manipulated. If religion were gone, this world would be a utopia.

I had a similar, though much simpler, tipping point experience at BYU in the 80s.

For me, it was about realizing that every time I heard someone from the GOP espouse their allegiance to the Party of Lincoln. It had nothing to do with what Lincoln actually believed.

Abraham Lincoln Quote: The People Are The Rightful MastersALT: Abraham Lincoln Quote: The People Are The Rightful Mastersstatic.klipy.com

Sad but true. I know many well meaning mathematicians who want to use math to improve our understanding of climate change or make redistricting more equitable. It’s an exercise in futility.

Then you have the rest of us weirdos who totally believe you, because we understand the science. ✨ I'll always support the researchers, and scientists, never the bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy DinklebergALT: Bureaucracy Dinklebergstatic.klipy.com

People don't get into politics because they absolutely aced all their science classes.

We live in age of lazy linguistic idealism ("idealism" in the philosophical sense). By which I mean, those in positions of influence think that if they say something is so, then it actually is so. Trump is the perfect example. Truth and reality are considered irrelevant elitist concepts for smucks.

Kinda like researching communication in journalism and public relations. No one, but no one in either profession ever reads our work—and much of it shows why things the professionals do don’t work.

Had the same revelation when the esteemed Dr I was working with on Alzheimer's research told me she pursued it vs her passion due to funding from NIH/NIMH. Old white guys on foundations/boards were more apt to fund Alzheimer's due to their own fears with aging than others not centered on them.

Gotta tell the story, it's the only thing humans understand.

Well, Dr. Watts, when we Build Back Better, we're going to change that!

That's because most researchers don't understand marketing. Some of the best and smartest people on the planet are also socially inept, and yet having a sales pitch or being able to communicate with others is one of the most important skills to getting others to follow their research.

I remember back in the day when I thought that adding my phone number to a government "DO NOT CALL" list would stop any telemarketers from calling me. Now it's requesting cruise lines to remove me from their mailing list. Sales people are being paid per "reaching out" rather than actual sales.

Sad comment

That's really sad to hear

#Polyticks is nearly the polar opposite of #goldstandard proven - reliable & valid - results.

I remember the crushing moment when I asked my scientist friend how I could help turn her (very complex) research into policy and she told me that that wasn't her job. Leaving me as a non scientist trying to work out a solution to the problems she'd identified.

Ah yes, I remember this moment, too.

That is very scary when you think about it.

Just about everything we're told is true is a fucking lie. The UN just came out saying human caused global climate change is nothing to worry about; after we were told for decades we were killing the planet

And not only that, you have to identify those for whom it would be useful, and reach them.

Sadly true.

Indeed. www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/therep...

I have this moment as a jazz musician and as a senior software developer. Let's not let the beautiful complexity fool us?

Dang.

Sad but uncomfortably true.

or commercially viable for profits in which case a corporation will open their coffers and lobby for that policy change.

💯 - multiple public inquiries have shown that medical leadership is close to a century out of date on basic science. Millions of lives have been wasted because their decisions are dominated by subjective opinions, turf wars and egos - and now they're trying to grab control over *all of science*. 🧵:

I had that moment cleaning up after bioassays. The regulations said 24 hours, it was OK if they were all dead by 48 hours.

As a consumer and translator of research in my profession, I was also shocked to find it just did not matter to my profession, community, or laws. T'was a profound disheartenment.

youtu.be/CQeezCdF4mk?...

Sad Trombone - Sound Effect (HD)YouTube video by Gaming Sound FXyoutu.be

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” ― Upton Sinclair

..or have someone paid to do so. 😔

I hope you are well, miss you on X but not Musk, i left it last year

People have to be emotionally ready to accept data, Information, and new/different knowledge. Unfortunately, many would rather be comfortable and wrong, than open to whatever knowledge is revealed by the analyses of the data & information.

Keep going. We need you.

Politicians usually don't do shit for anybody unless they're getting paid

Reminds me of the movie "Don't look up".

Belief is the opposite of knowledge The index of suspicion of everything A Discrete Ontology of the Universe

Belief is the Opposite of KnowledgeThe Index of Suspicion of Everything - A Discrete Ontology of the Universeopen.substack.com

Well that’s about it. Thanks for explaining this!

As a now-retired science teacher of 7th & 8th graders, I'd like to hopefully counter ur crushing moment w an exhilarating moment of mine, when I find out that 1 of my former students has gone to college to study 1 of the hard sciences. Thankfully, that's happened about a dozen times over the yrs!

🥲

And by “politically useful” you mean profitable for someone.

We don't teach psychological manipulation skills, enough or at all, to our STEM grads. If we can't adopt the Finnish model and funnel 8-year-olds into Critical Thinking classes, we need to meet the White Heartland Bubbas on emotional grounds. While knowing: some racists just gonna racist.

Sad but true

Follows the adage that to change things, you have to wait for people to die.

And we love to talk about about much more intelligent we are than other animals.

Ron Swanson GigglesAlt: Ron Swanson Gigglesstatic.klipy.com

There was a saying, 'In God we trust, all others bring data.' Well the data angle was bullshit too. No matter how convincing the data is, people believe what they want to believe.

She's a witch! How do I know she's a witch? She choinged me into a newt! ...But I got bettah... (Just an example from Monty Python of the absurd things people choose to believe, rather than the things we researchers demonstrate scientifically).

Yup.

Research is seldom a complete waste of time. Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" didn't create an immediate impact. It created a massive impact in the long term. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_...

Rachel Carson - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Alternate facts 😉

unfortunately facts can't matter because our method of figuring what is true Always relies on what we've come to trust through our previous limited misleading experiences -our interface with reality is fundamentally flawed & circular we All feel justified in our views. -there's Always more to learn

Political economy should be an essential course for would-be policy-shapers. It's a different lens on the world.

Sorry. It sucks.

So, you finally understand why 99% of "media" is never about actual facts?

It was one of the more bitter pills I had to swallow.

Reminds me of Don't Look Up

And it's outrageous!

Thoughout my career as a government researcher, it was a constant disappointment that my research was ignored by politicians if it was deemed "inconvenient".

I agree. Most policy is not evaluated unless politically useful nor even has meaningful measurement criteria.

Now try being a federal whistleblower in usa and watching OSHA takes bribes and your life is ruined bc they then paid off your brother bc he was a lazy person who was broke.

Yes - like music being an essential element in education.

sigh

😢

I hope that you continued your work in spite of this?

Big data was supposed to lead to evidence based decision making - now replaced by AI hallucinations

Like the day I realized our legal system was about favors and deals and had nothing to do with justice, rehabilitation or fairness.

Prob with politics is that people who crave power are generally scum.

We had it 39 years ago. Because if all humans are not together, one "nation" coping to be ok is doomed to fail. bsky.app/profile/thet...

There is NO such thing as proof in science; there is only evidence.

Too true to comprehend ‼️

QANON destroyed the paradigm of evidence.

That is life in the United States where our freedom is a fucking illusion…we are here to serve at the pleasure of a bunch of wealthy psychopaths who poison our food, tell us we cannot have universal healthcare because it interferes with their insane profits, and who have all built bunkers to insulat

I feel like this about the law. A lot of things are illegal (e.g. employment discrimination) but the law is not useful and doesn't really protect anyone.

Have you ever read the story, Love is a Fallacy?

that is disheartening. we need acceptance of, not belief in, facts!

Ahh that moment when you realise unscientific perceptions, bigotry and prejudices are absolute. It's mind boggling how fiction always trumps facts.

“So long as men are not trained to withhold judgment in the absence of evidence, they will be led astray by cocksure prophets, & it is likely that their leaders will be either ignorant fanatics or dishonest charlatans.” -Bertrand Russell Russell would be horrified that today, some ignore evidence.

My favorite examples UBI and induced demand for car access

It's painful, beating your head against a brick wall. I know; I've done it.

Laws and evidence are tools. Only the powerful can use them; the powerless can try, but we'll soon find there's no higher power, no impartial authority, no judge beyond politics. It's incredibly sad.

Alas.

Liberate us from your ass

And you can substitute environmental for social

The ignorant deny science until their lives are on the table and only a doctor can save them.

This is why I think emotional intelligence needs to be taught in school. With just as much importance as mainstream subjects like math + science.