Reversing Curie
Guest post by Tom Fuller from The Lukewarmer’s Way
The online journal Frontiers promises open access and peer review. They have recently published Stefan Lewandowsky’s paper ‘Recursive Fury: conspiracist ideation in the blogosphere in response to research on conspiracist ideation’. So yes, access there is pretty open. Not so sure which peers reviewed this one, though.
In it, Lewandowsky describes the reactions of commenters to the publication of another paper, “NASA faked the moon landing|Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax: An Anatomy of the Motivated Rejection of Science”.
This paper was based on an internet survey so bad that it beggars belief. Invitations were posted on the websites of climate activists and Lewandowsky and John Cook of Skeptical Science discussed the survey and nudged activists to go over there and phony up the results. They did.
Lewandowsky is a charlatan. His latest paper, co-authored by John Cook, is a flight of fantasy that ignores the fact that most of the comments that he labels ‘recursive fury’ were polite mentions of the fact that he Cooked the books in his survey–a survey he claims is published, but is not.
I play a minor role in this. As someone who has worked in the field of online research pretty much from the day online research started, I have participated in literally thousands of online surveys. I commented on Lewandowsky’s weblog posts concerning his survey, pointing out some of the (many) issues with what he had done and asking for a look at the questionnaire.
Lewandowsky deleted all of my comments. And his latest paper, which has a Data Supplement showing the ‘recursive fury’, which apparently means cherry picking a few of the comments he didn’t like, doesn’t mention my deleted comments for some reason.
In addition to biasing the sample, Lewandowsky presented different versions of the survey to respondents coming from different websites. His ‘conspiracists’ from the skeptic world were outnumbered by ‘conspiracists’ from the climate activist community. He has not published the data, despite promising to do so and claiming that he has.
He has clearly read the criticisms of his paper–indeed, he includes some of them in his data supplement. So there is no real reason to excuse him for what he has perpetrated on the scientific community in his latest effort.
He’s not doing either his field or science in general any favors. In fact he’s helping destroy a tradition and methodology that has advanced human progress immeasurably.
He doesn’t care.
=============================================================
UPDATE: It seems Lewandowsky is seeing conspiracy everywhere, even at the Met Office. Jeff Condon has the details:
Lewandowsky – Strike Three!! What a riot!
Lewandowsky has placed a comment in his supplementary information from the excellent bishop Hill blog, authored by fellow conspiracy theorist Richard Betts:
The thing I don’t understand is, why didn’t they just make a post on sceptic blogs themselves, rather than approaching blog owners. They could have posted as a Discussion topic here at Bishop Hill without even asking the host, and I very much doubt that the Bish would have removed it. Climate Audit also has very light-touch moderation and I doubt whether Steve McIntyre would have removed such an unsolicited post. Same probably goes for many of the sceptic blogs, in my experience. So it does appear to that they didn’t try very hard to solicit views from the climate sceptic community.
Unfortunately for Lewandowsky, this is Richard Betts
More here
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
He is a has been as far as critical thinking ability. You expect WAY to much from a person with such a terminal case of Skeptical Science Syndrome
See this just makes me furious. In fact, my fury is bounded only by the number of fury frames I can fit on my stack.
Oh wait, sorry, I think I was recursively furious earlier today. But maybe that’s what the conspiracy is all about! Lewandowsky’s trying to induce system crashes in all bot brains like mine by triggering recursive fury! I’m even more furious now! Oh crud, there we go again, only 2 stack frames left! The sheer nefarious intent of his diabolical ideation, though! Gahhh – gotta get out of here, last stack fra
Kernel panic – not syncing: Aieee, killing interrupt handler!
Camburn,
I read him as more of a “never was” than a “has been” when it comes to critical thinking ability.
After all is said and done, L & C’s silly nonsense is seen as an example of an ad hominem
logical fallacy repackaged using psychobabble pretensions. Apparently none of the rabid AGW crowd has ever set foot inside a philosophy 101 class,
I think Lewandowsky actually does care – like Gleick, IMO Lewandowsky thinks his noble cause trumps all normal considerations of honesty or fairness. If I am right, his role, in his eyes, is not to analyse climate skepticism, but to crush it – to stigmatise it, to make it unacceptable to be a skeptic in polite company.
Like I have said many times,,,,,,,
Bring out the polygragh test and answer just 3 questions!
Pardon my attempt at levity 🙂
LOL, could you pass?
MattS:
You do have a very valid point.
You deniers just don’t get the science..err..challenge to your world views or something or other-
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/climate-change-a-values-problem-expert/story-fn3dxiwe-1226602004376
(hat tip to Jonova)
Looks like anyone can be published here–more of an ego driven form of publishing than a “community” driven, as they they claim. Here is what they say about themselves:
Reminds me. I sent a complaint to the ‘university’ that channels taxpayers money to this charlatan recently. Must be due for a reply soon. Might just follow that up.
As an Australian taxpayer who is struggling to keep a small business going I cannot say that I am thrilled at how my taxes are being squandered.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see an outline of the ‘conspiracy’ (by conspiracy I mean deliberate, planned collusion between a small group of individuals to ensure a pre-determined outcome)…wouldn’t it be interesting to see the mechanics of an ‘actual’ conspiracy, that has resulted in an entire field of science being discredited?
Perhaps someone will assemble the Climategate emails between UEA/Mann/BBC etc etc in such a way that we can understand how they pulled it off.
With your credentials, I hope you follow up with the journal. The may respond properly to these charges because of your credibility. Make it clear that it’s a matter of their reputation. Worst case is you have content for another post on the sorry state of research publishing.
Are they projecting the term “fury”, or has it been defined ?
Back when I was much dumber than today (yes, I know there are acquaintances who would consider that an impossible achievement, but I must respectfully disagree) I actually used to genuinely argue with the lunatics who stood on the city street corners with their placards or signs while they loudly barked at all of us less enlightened beings to repent, save our souls or some such, for the end times, the judgement, or some such, was near.
I will admit that it took far longer than it should have for me to realize that reasoned discourse with psychopaths was generally impossible. When the tardy realization finally took hold I determined to do what was in my best interest, which was to ignore the living hell out of them. Now I can’t ignore a fly, a hang nail, a sore tooth, a mosquito, bed bugs, ticks, gnats, rodents, snakes, blood sucking vampires, but dammit, I can ignore a lunatic who screams out on a street corner that I must save my soul. And, I don’t know, but Lewandowsky certainly bears a resemblance. No, not necessarily to a fly, hang nail, sore tooth, mosquito, bed bugs, ticks, gnats, rodents, snakes, or blood sucking vampires (although he most certainly might). But definitely to those lunatics who hang out on city street corners.
Of course, maybe they bear a resemblance to him.
“He’s not doing either his field or science in general any favours. In fact he’s helping destroy a tradition and methodology that has advanced human progress immeasurably.
He doesn’t care.”
Corruption of science is endemic. Climategate, the ensuing cover-up “enquiries” and the near total silence from other branches of science has simple made this sorry state of affairs publicly visible.
The reason there has been no outcry from other branches of science that climatologists put their house in order is that they fear the spot-light may be turned on their own fields.
The public’s quaint idea of rigorous, objective science needs a reboot. It got left behind somewhere in the late 19th century.
Sadly, science has become a faith-based orthodoxy, very similar to what was in place when the church controlled learning and knowledge.
Warmists: Hey! Let’s just s*it can science and go right to calling our enemies names! This science thing ain’t working out anyway!
…Lewandowsky describes the reactions of commenters to the publication of another paper, “NASA faked the moon landing…”
——————————————
This video that claims Stanley Kubrick filmed a faux Apollo moon landing for NASA:
Kinda long and tedious, but interesting to consider that the people who made this video actually seem to believe it. Yikes!
Fake a moon landing, maybe.. Fake the video NO WAY
Watching that sneaky & shifty video of Lewandowsky ‘explaining’ his position did it for me. He’s about one of the creepiest people in the game.
Lewandowsky is a product of his own conspiracy, it seems if you can verify one, you make one up truly mind over matter and commonsense. But then the guy doesn’t have much of that commonsense, just and elevated Gleikian perchant for making things up.
He would go well in a clown suit, in keeping with his associates adept at making up, and mucking up. Sad really that he gets paid to do this at a university that should know better.
Well guys, it looks as if Aussie PM Gillard will be sent packing earlier… http://joannenova.com.au/2013/03/who-will-be-australias-pm-tomorrow/
Carbon taxes are deadly for politicians!
Tom Fuller
You’re too modest about your “minor” contribution. Lew couldn’t stand a voice of sanity from outside the normal “denier” fraternity.
The Lew/Cook “moderation” policy went haywire at shapingtomorrowsworld and SkS. One of my snipped comments has actually been demoderated back to life so it can figure as evidence of my conspiracist ideation.
There’s a discussion between all those who’ve made it to the Lew Roll of Honour at
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/discussion/post/2091932
and I’ve been looking at below the line reactions on the “New Frontiers” site from a couple of Australian professors every bit as weird as Lew at
http://geoffchambers.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/lews-crew-the-plot-sickens/
“Wouldn’t it be interesting to see an outline of the ‘conspiracy’ (by conspiracy I mean deliberate, planned collusion between a small group of individuals to ensure a pre-determined outcome)…”
No problem – check out the private SKS forums discussions that were left public and archived and published online.
Or John Cook and other silly Reality project – with Al Gore – using spambots to identify skeptic comments and automatically attack by posting their own beliefs.
What Lewandowsky is practicing, and working to perfect, is PUNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY – using the guise of scholarly work to attack, denigrate and try to de-ligitimize those who dare disagree with he and his cause.
There oughta be a law. We can call it the Lew Law. Which is perfectly fitting.
…He’s not doing either his field or science in general any favors. In fact he’s helping destroy a tradition and methodology that has advanced human progress immeasurably….
Apropos of that, I note that this year is the 800 anniversary of Roger Bacon, the Franciscan friar who invented Scientific Methodology.
It is staggering that there seems to be no recognition of this event being celebrated anywhere in the world. But then, I’m pretty sure of what Friar Bacon would say if he could see what they have been doing to his invention…
Like Mann , Lewandowsky does much good work for the very ideas they hate , so while their shooting themselves in the foot leave them to it .
Has for the damage this is doing science in general, that comes from its own silence over his poor actions and silence that has been seen time and again when it comes to ‘the Teams’ little ‘tricks , so its merely self inflicted damage .