the ghost of binx

"In Merchants of Doubt, Oreskes, and Conway explain this blueprint in more detail. Indeed, the authors provide evidence not only that other science deniers followed the "tobacco strategy," but also that some of the same people were involved. Ever since the infamous internal memo written by a tobacco executive in 1969 which said that "doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the minds of the general public," it has been clear what needs to be done. Find and fund your own experts, use this to suggest to the media that there are two sides to the story, push your side through public relations and governmental lobbying, and capitalize on the resulting public confusion to question whatever scientific result you wish to dispute.  As Oreskes and Conway explain, this strategy was successfully employed in later scientific "disputes" over Reagan's 'Strategic Defense Initiative,' nuclear winter, acid rain, the ozone hole, and global warming. Some of the funding for these campaigns even came from the tobacco industry. By the time climate change became a partisan issue in the early 2000s, the mechanism of corporate-funded science denial was a well-oiled machine: 'Paid experts produced fake research that was converted into talking points and memes, then repeated on television by paid shills and spread through social media and, when necessary, hammered into the public consciousness through paid advertising campaigns.' -- Post Truth, Lee McIntyre

"The optimists, they died of a broken heart. This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse the faith that you will prevail in the end -- which you can never afford to lose -- with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." -- The Stockdale Paradox, James Stockdale

I feel like I live in a different world than most people, more than ever.