War on Science

 

Over on Phil Plait's blog I came across another entry I really like, mentioning what I think is a pretty pointed idea: people who have no respect for the information.

A "true" scientist respects the information and the truths it will ultimately lead to, the information, the truth itself, is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, it seems that the most successful politicians are the ones who simply use the information as a means to an end, filtering and censoring it as needed to promote whatever ideology they happen to support. They don't respect the value it has in helping us evaluate and comprehend this amazing universe we live in, it's just a tool to be used or discarded as needed.

I'm fond of Phil's page because he, along with James Randi, were both instrumental in helping me get my philosophical and skeptical perspectives straightened out. I don't recall how I came across Phil's site, but it was a number of years ago.

It may have started with a friend of mine who's a stickler for scientific accuracy in movies and other media, but I'm not certain. I know later on I found it again after searching for information on the supposed moon landing hoax. There's no better resource for dismantling moon hoax conspiracy theories than his site. Anyhow, check his site out if you've never been there before, it's good stuff.