Quote:
Originally Posted by stevehull
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I just listened to a TV interview of an elderly couple off Jupiter Inlet (on a barrier island) that "have weathered many storms and the house has always been here for us". But here was the kicker when they were asked if they didn't believe the many people including FEMA and NWS, their reply was; - "well, you know that you can't trust those people in charge".
Why the feeling that these people know more than FEMA, the Weather Channel, the National Weather Service, NOAA, the National Hurricane Prediction Center, etc?
The wave of anti science, anti rational thinking (anti-intellectualism) is simply astounding. I don't trust you because you have "X" degrees or understand a polynomial . . . . .
Am I the only one that sees this tragedy unfolding before my eyes? All these people are not stupid, but somewhere they have drunk the cool aid . . . .
Steve
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While I agree that this storm may well be much worse than most storms these people have ever seen, I completely understand their thought process. In this day of sensationalism in the news it is extremely difficult to figure which experts are telling the truth and which ones are trying to sell newspapers or books. Everyday things that used to be considered normal are now referred to as incredible, awesome, unbelievable, deadly, or choose your outstanding adverb.
However, addressing the science issue, I do remember back in the 90's when
I lived in Southern Illinois that a world famous scientist predicted that the New Madrid fault was going to rupture and cause a huge earthquake on such and such a specific date. That still hasn't happened. And Y2K was supposed to crash all computer systems and cause chaos around the world. Nope, that didn't happen either.
So I don't believe that the mistrust due solely to the fact that the experts are scientists but more so due to the combination of sensationalism and previous supposed experts incorrect predictions.
Just my $.02.
JJ