jennifermarohasy.com/blog
We are all aware of a claimed consensus on climate science, although what the consensus actually is and how far it goes has yet to be defined, in my view. That is not the issue raised here. A book authored by Janis, I. L. & Mann, L. (1977) Decision-making: A psychological analysis of conflict, choice, and commitment (New York Free Press), explores the concept of ‘Group Think,’ which shows a remarkable parallel with the way the climate science consensus is operated and protected.
Eight symptoms of Group Think are listed below:
1. Illusion of Invulnerability: Members ignore obvious danger, take extreme risk, and are overly optimistic.
2. Collective Rationalization: Members discredit and explain away warning contrary to group thinking.
3. Illusion of Morality: Members believe their decisions are morally correct, ignoring the ethical consequences of their decisions.
4. Excessive Stereotyping: The group constructs negative stereotypes of rivals outside the group.
5. Pressure for Conformity: Members pressure any in the group who express arguments against the group’s stereotypes, illusions, or commitments, viewing such opposition as disloyalty.
6. Self-Censorship: Members withhold their dissenting views and counter-arguments.
7. Illusion of Unanimity: Members perceive falsely that everyone agrees with the group’s decision; silence is seen as consent.
8. Mind guards: Some members appoint themselves to the role of protecting the group from adverse information that might threaten group complacency. Read more here.
By Roger Aronoff, Accuracy in Media
It is being widely reported that Al Gore’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize could propel him into the presidential race, but the award is tainted and the former vice president received it shortly after a British Court issued a ruling alleging numerous errors in his film on global warming. In short, Gore’s prize is a joke, something that should be fodder for late-night comedians.
But there can be no minimizing the propaganda value that such an award can garner. If Hillary falters in her race for the Democratic presidential nomination, it could be enough for Gore to make a move, and try to seize the White House for himself. That will depend, in part, on the fickle finger of the Big Media.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has a point in saying the award to Gore is a “sad day” for the Nobel legacy, except for the fact that other recipients of the prize have been as notorious and controversial as Gore.
“Al Gore should probably get a prize for most travel in a private jet, but not the Peace Prize,” said Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He was alluding to Gore’s penchant for using so much of the energy that he blames for jeopardizing the future of the planet. Indeed, Ebell’s comments are precisely the tone that should be set. The prize is something to be mocked, not celebrated. Gore is a first class hypocrite who has not let his theory about the end of civilization inhibit his own luxurious lifestyle.
Read full blog here.
By Quentin Hardy, Forbes
Last July I was privileged to be in Aspen, Colo., where 10,000-square-foot luxury log cabins aspire to the soaring Rockies, billionaires tool Priuses to private jets and the world’s powerful gather for cold salmon and big truths. And they were feeling bad.
About 20 of us--including venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and Washington strategists--were asked to imagine the year 2050. With few exceptions, our predictions were a grim amplification of all of today’s worst headlines: global warming, famine, unending terrorism. Not much different, I’d guess, from what gets forecast at most salons and dinner parties when the talk turns this way: The future as a Mad Max movie, only without the style and thrills.
What’s going on here? We were, by almost any measure of space or time, a group others would kill to become--affluent Americans in 2007. We are longer-lived and with access to more knowledge and experiences than any king or pope who has come before, nevermind the lives of the countless billions whose ordinary tragedies are collectively called “history.” This much luck should make us hug ourselves with delight.
Having slipped catastrophes like the 1914-1945 worldwide conflicts (with 100 million dead), or the nuclear threat of the 44 cold years that followed, there are also reasonable grounds to believe we can work out our problems. The daily advances in science and technology lend hope that on balance things can be even better. Except that we do not feel that way.
The alarming news of the present, raised to a level of continual urgency, has taught us to think of the future in terms of continual catastrophe. It affects some more than others--my friends in Aspen are very well-informed people. In my newsroom days...you read a lot of the stories, and maybe your heart broke enough to scar over, but you gained the perspective to resume some kind of normality. Experience taught that our close world of work and loved ones continued on pretty well. Perhaps we can learn to do that again in our thoughts about the future of the planet. I suspect that it will be harder to gain the necessary experience, though. You only get to play out the next 50 years once. Read more here.