this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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I’ve known a guy for like 20 years, currently in his 60s, who firmly believes that anthropogenic climate change is entirely false.
He has a bachelors degree in physics, a bachelors degree in mathematics, and a Ph.D in economics. He’s written a handful of high level Econ textbooks, he’s worked as a professor off and on at 3 or 4 respected universities here in the US. He was most recently employed at a supply chain consulting firm, making an ungodly amount of money.
By all accounts, he’s an extremely smart, well-educated, well-read guy. But holy shit if that boomer isn’t constantly reposting the most transparently fake anti-science nonsense on his Facebook page. Think, “New research proves that Climate Change is a liberal myth” - The Religious Conservative Storm.
Just demonstrates how it doesn’t matter how educated someone is if they don’t think critically about information that confirms their expectations.
There be people like that. My dad was a professor for applied mathematics at a top level university in Germany, published books etc. Nowadays he works as an indepentdent business consultants and is insanely successful on an international level. And while he does believe climate change is real he is very, uhm, alternative when it comes to health and nutrition. Think fruit juices and nutrition supplements and sun doesn't cause cancer and "holding a lazer to your heel makes your rotten teeth unrotten" kinda stuff. (Didn't work.) Watches weird ass youtube videos by "experts". Me, having a M.Sc. in Nutrition and Biomedicine, I am in no way an expert like these people or himself when it comes to nutrition, health and medicine, according to him. People can be extremely smart and talented in some parts of their lives and be completely bonkers in others.
Yeah sounds very similar. And weird coincidence, but the guy I’m talking about is also German. Lives in the US now, but his parents don’t speak English, he came here as a kid I believe.
My dad isn't German but he only became obsessed with alt health and nutrition once he moved to Germany... Coincidence? I think not - there must be something in the air here that turns people crazy
How weird. My sample size is now 2, I think I’m ready to draw a conclusion and only consider evidence that confirms it going forward.
That reminds me how my father loves to tell the story of a doctor who wasn't convinced that sun causes skin cancer so he went to India for a year and didn't wear sunscreen once and lo and behold he didn't get cancer so he disproved that sun causes cancer.
Again, my dad is a mathematician. Granted, analytical and computer algebra, not statistics, but dear Lord.
I know a highly educated seismologist who makes his work his hobby and has been an enthusiast for nature-related pursuits for decades...
And he thinks people have next to zero contributions to the climate. His go-tos are volcanoes and sunspots to explain climate changes, and he blames, I kid you not, the "big green energy hoax" for conflicting data.