Sceptics Deny the Earth is Flat.
Therefore the World is Warming
The Conversation’s Environment editor Willy de Freitas, after insulting cliscep contributors Paul Matthews and John Ridgway, as well as barrister Robin Guenier and emeritus professor of philosophy Hugh McLachlan, has decided to thumb his nose at us by publishing an article so stupid that even we wouldn’t stoop to criticise it.
Sorry Willy. I’ll stoop at anything.
The authors of “Flat Earthers vs climate change sceptics: why conspiracy theorists keep contradicting each other” Gareth Dorrian and Ian Whittaker are respectively Post Doctoral Research Associate and Lecturer in astrophysics at Nottingham Trent University. The evidence that they possess the reasoning abilities of retarded five-year-olds is in the title of their article. Yes, no, really. What these astrophysicians are saying is that flat earthers and climate sceptics are both wrong – because they contradict each other.
They make this astounding point in their very first paragraph, and repeat it ...
Flat Earthism and the idea that human activity is not responsible for climate change are two of the most prevalent conspiracy theories today. [1] Both have been increasing in popularity since the late 20th century. Currently, 16% of the US population say they doubt the scientifically established shape of the Earth...
No they don’t. According to the link, just 2% think that the earth is flat, a percentage which corresponds to the lower range of estimates of respondents who regularly give stupid answers to surveys just to annoy the interviewers...
Get that? Some flat earthers are not climate deniers…
Former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci (dismissed by president Trump after ten days in office), meanwhile, believes that the Earth is in fact round, but does not believe in anthropogenic climate change, as he made clear in an interview with CNN
...while some climate change sceptics are not flat earthers.
Are all astrophysicists idiots or was Terry Pratchett right about Discworld? My binary seaweed tells me it’s got to be one or the other. But would you award either of these morons a wizardship at the Unseen University?
Or, to pose the question in more civilised tones, are Dorrian and Whittaker as stupid as they seem to be, or is there method in their madness? Did someone in the astrophysics community whisper to them:
“Look, let’s face it. Our salaries depend on the whim on our political masters whose understanding of science is such that they can’t tell the difference between someone poisoned by a deadly nerve gas and someone who’s eaten a dodgy pizza.
