Presenting scientific consensus as “fact” is harmful, because it means that it will be harder to change that “fact” when more data is available.
Scientists are humans, but what makes their consensus trustworthy is their commitment to a process of forming testable hypotheses, gathering data, getting rid of confounding noise, and publishing their results. Thence, a model of reality is constructed, and a consensus—a belief—is agreed upon.
But NEW DATA MUST RESULT IN REVISED MODELS. That is good, and that defines progress.
Labeling consensus as “fact” undermines the idea that MODELS WILL CHANGE as more data come in. A “fact” is an immutable truth, and a reporting a change in scientific “facts” over time will undermine trust in scientists much more than the phrase “scientists believe”.
The problem with the phrase “scientists believe” is not the “believe” part. It’s the “scientists” part, which has lost public credibility.
"Most of the belongings, such as clothing, makeup and blankets, could be replaced in time. But she panicked when she realized that her dentures, acquired after months of dental appointments, were also gone."
#MSNBC is giving John Kasich a platform to say that Democrats are telling him that Joe Biden may not be the Democratic nominee on live TV, using something akin to "I'm not saying it is true, but many people are saying..."
If North American democracies manage to survive the upcoming election cycles, we must remove the ability for private and corporate interests to overtly or covertly influence & manipulate our information spaces.
There’s a new playbook being written right now when it comes to the future of social media. The early-mover advantage is still in effect, and there’s a lot to figure out. Gone are opaque algorithms and the whims of any single company.
The fediverse represents a chance for quality journalism to shine again.
We talked to two leaders at fedi-forward publications — @TheConversationUS's @BostonAbrams, and @404mediaco's @jasonkoebler — about why they’re investing in the open social web, what they’ve learned so far, and their advice for other publishers just getting started.
We'd love to get the #NewstodonFriday hashtag going again. This, as far as we can remember, was started by @gbhnews, and is an initiative to feature work from newsrooms that have an active presence in the #fediverse
If you're a news organization, share your handle and your favorite story of the week in the comments to this! And if there's a publication in the fediverse that you love, let us know about that in the comments too.
The Economic Damage due to climate change is much worse than thought!!!
The economic damage wrought by climate change is six times worse than previously thought, with global heating set to shrink wealth at a rate consistent with the level of financial losses of a continuing permanent war.
Georgia celebrated Family Purity Day today!
Is it okay to celebrate such customs?
Georgia's prime minister joined tens of thousands of people on a march through the capital on Friday to mark the Day of Family Purity, which celebrates so-called traditional family values in the country where animosity toward sexual minorities is strong.
The National’s content editor was standing roughly 100m from the demonstration when he was confronted by an officer who claimed he was being “obstructive to the police”.
The encounter was recorded. The officer claimed he didn’t have “free roam to go about protest sites” and suggested he could be arrested under Section 20 of the #Police and Fire Reform Act.
"Dr. King said that in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Sadly, medically vulnerable people are under no illusion that the Democrats are any kind of friend. But their silence is surely loud and clear." https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/biden-cdc-silent-as-north-carolina
Looks like @taylorlorenz has succumbed to Murc's Law.
"These journalists seem to believe (perhaps unconsciously) that #Republicans have so little control over their own behavior that they cannot be held accountable for their own actions.
So, instead of blaming Republicans for the political difficulties they cause, they blame #Democrats for failing to control Republicans’ bad behavior."
Photo-shoot this morning: U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy at an Axios forum on youth mental health, interviewed by Caitlin Owens, Axios health reporter.
A school has banned books portraying LGBTQ+ parents.
In which century are we living?
Do they don't have the right to live peacefully?
Two advocacy groups have filed complaints with the federal government over a North Carolina school system’s decision to ban all books with gay parents and characters questioning their gender from both classrooms and libraries.
Doctor mistakenly operated on a kid's tongue instead of finger.
How can a doctor commit such a mistake. It's such a traumatic experience for the kid!!!
A Doctor operated on 4-year-old patient's tongue instead of her finger in Kerala and faced public uproar due to which he got suspended.
@arstechnica@Viss I wish articles like this would include, up front, the indicators of compromise that I can use to test if the servers I manage are affected. It's the first and most important thing I want to know when learning about a vulnerability.
Should police officers be deployed in schools for safety?
Are the children safe?
Some U.S. school districts that removed police officers in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020 are rethinking what safety experts called a “knee-jerk reaction” as fights and incidents with guns that endanger students spark concern.