Dan Satterfield used to work in Huntsville AL and he was the 'go to guy' whenever there was foul weather about. But his independent mind made enemies such as calling tornadoes early or clearances when the risk passed. No doubt the local Alabama 'Climatologist' wasn't too happy with Dan's whole hearted endorsement of man-made, global warming. Then a couple of years ago he disappeared to show up Salisbury MD, a wonderful place to go but this is as introduction to his recent posting: Beyond Help - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal - AGU Blogosphere Scientific method requires verified data, and this is part of its genius to discern truth, but I suspect those trained in science, easily forget that this understanding is far less common among the rest of the population. Our educational system seems to have left too many people with the inability to understand their own confirmation bias, and to critically judge what they read and hear. We must do a better job of teaching critical thinking skills in high schools, because we have a (growing?) population of people who seem unable to tell myth from reality. Here is an example: I shared a post on Facebook this week by Tim O’Reilly, titled How I Detect Fake News. It’s a well written piece, and he talks about how Snopes is a good first check on spotting fake news, but that they cannot catch everything. As an inhabitant of the worlds of both science and journalism, I can verify how serious this issue has become. In almost any decent newsroom, you know you have the story about right when you get complaints of bias from both sides, and indeed, I think journalists understand confirmation bias better than some psychologists! . . . When I occasionally see the shadows of those who still try to engage with @mojo and the degree to which so many, some of them blood kin, are like @mojo fully captured by faux stories. What is the price of such ignorance? Source: Religious groups that reject medical treatment in favor of prayer Church of the First Born: This group is mainly active in Colorado and Oklahoma. The sect promotes the use of prayer to heal; they do not believe in doctors or medicine. Jason Lockhart, 9, of Enid, OK died of a ruptured appendix in 1982-DEC. Desiree Camren, 3, of Cushing, OK died after a treatable illness. Testimony at the trial indicated that the parents knew the child was dying but attributed it to God's punishment because the father had not been attending church. This is one more indicator of the biblical theme of transferring sin and punishment from the guilty to the innocent. Angela Sweet, 7, of Olathe, CO, died in 1990-JUN of a ruptured appendix. Jordan Northrup, 4 months, in Redding , CA, died in 1991-JAN of meningitis and pneumonia. 3 Loyd and Christina Hayes are members of this church in Albany OR. They were charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 7 year old son who died in 1994-NOV from a treatable form of leukemia. After the 1986-APR trial, the father was given 5 years probation, and ordered to report any serious illness or injury to any child in his care. The mother was acquitted. He filed an appeal on 1996-JUL. The state has also appealed, because the judge did not sentence Hayes to prison, as specified in the sentencing guidelines. There are no guarantees in life beyond death and usually some form of taxes. That their foolishness led to post trimester abortions of some of their kids, well that is how evolution works. But can those who cling to such faith over fact be redeemed? What does it take for someone to be a Martin Luther to their faith? Martin Luther in later life: Luther had previously written against the Church’s adherence to clerical celibacy, and in 1525 he married Katherine of Bora, a former nun. They had five children. Although Luther’s early writings had sparked the Reformation, he was hardly involved in it during his later years. At the end of his life, Luther turned strident in his views, and pronounced the pope the Antichrist, advocated for the expulsion of Jews from the empire and condoned polygamy based on the practice of the patriarchs in the Old Testament. So we have set of faith replaced by another and a bloody history ensued. I don't have a magic bullet, way to convert the faith-based believers into the scientific method. Just we've observed over time the faith-based believers seem to have a bloody history of their own making. Sad to say, any initial success often sows the seeds of their own destruction. But that in no way dilutes my admiration of Dan Satterfield. Bob Wilson
