Misleading arguments 3 and 6..

Northern Ireland Environment Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, [Sarah Palin in drag? – Ed] is partly right in that hysterical media coverage linking every extreme weather event to climate change is counter-productive – the general media has never been very good at reporting science after all. But if he really wanted a “reasoned debate” he needs a new play-book. Misleading arguments on solar activity and rises in CO2 occuring after global warming, not before, are just that – misleading arguments. And whilst I’d encourage scepticism on all things, scepticism doesn’t include Sammy Wilson’s previously stated conspiracy theories. It’s not Somebody Else’s Problem.
From the wikipedia entry

“An SEP is something we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem…. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won’t see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye.”

Btw that’s a Douglas Adams quote. As is this on why Somebody Else’s Problem Fields require very little energy.

“This is because it relies on people’s natural predisposition not to see anything they don’t want to, weren’t expecting, or can’t explain.”


Discover more from Slugger O'Toole

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.