"You've seen it on Facebook or other places a million times: Someone
makes some untrue medical or science or conspiracy claim, and to give it
the appearance of authority, attach a web link to it. And where is that
web link from? As often as not, it turns out to be a site that
specializes in terrible misinformation; and such sites are, all too
often, far more popular than sites dedicated to correcting the record or
presenting data. Pseudoscience is, unfortunately, more sensational,
compelling, and fun.
A few years ago on this show, I gave a list of the top ten websites that promoted the worst bad science, as a resource for those hoping to stand up to such web links. Times change, sites come and go, rise and ebb, and we're ready for an update. And so here are this year's winners, my picks for the worst sites on the Internet to which your friends are likely to link you, organized by their Alexa popularity rating, tweaked a bit by me for how bad their information really is. Let's begin with:
10. Heartland.org
The Heartland Institute is a free-market think tank, preparing research and reports for whatever clients want it. That's an important role in society and I respect the freedoms of every think tank no matter where they are on the political spectrum. Promoting the policies that support an ideology is a right, but denying hard science in support of that ideology is a no-no. And that's what you'll find on Heartland.org, one of the web's best funded and most comprehensive attacks on climate science. Resources like this are a very real problem for science, because they have the expertise and the means to change people's minds, but lack the ethics to change those minds for the better. This year they held their 10th annual "International Conference on Climate Change" in Washington DC, which they describe as the "the largest gathering of global warming 'skeptics' in the world," and strangely they put quotes around the word skeptics, which I would have done if they hadn't, since their process is certainly not one of skeptically interrogating the climate models. Instead, they start from their preferred conclusion, then work backwards collecting cherrypicked bits of information to build a path to get there.
For a healthy alternative to Heartland.org, try SkepticalScience.com, a site dedicated to combatting global warming misinformation. It will equip the layman with the tools needed to rebut the type of misinformation Heartland publishes."
Go to Skeptoid article
A few years ago on this show, I gave a list of the top ten websites that promoted the worst bad science, as a resource for those hoping to stand up to such web links. Times change, sites come and go, rise and ebb, and we're ready for an update. And so here are this year's winners, my picks for the worst sites on the Internet to which your friends are likely to link you, organized by their Alexa popularity rating, tweaked a bit by me for how bad their information really is. Let's begin with:
10. Heartland.org
The Heartland Institute is a free-market think tank, preparing research and reports for whatever clients want it. That's an important role in society and I respect the freedoms of every think tank no matter where they are on the political spectrum. Promoting the policies that support an ideology is a right, but denying hard science in support of that ideology is a no-no. And that's what you'll find on Heartland.org, one of the web's best funded and most comprehensive attacks on climate science. Resources like this are a very real problem for science, because they have the expertise and the means to change people's minds, but lack the ethics to change those minds for the better. This year they held their 10th annual "International Conference on Climate Change" in Washington DC, which they describe as the "the largest gathering of global warming 'skeptics' in the world," and strangely they put quotes around the word skeptics, which I would have done if they hadn't, since their process is certainly not one of skeptically interrogating the climate models. Instead, they start from their preferred conclusion, then work backwards collecting cherrypicked bits of information to build a path to get there.
For a healthy alternative to Heartland.org, try SkepticalScience.com, a site dedicated to combatting global warming misinformation. It will equip the layman with the tools needed to rebut the type of misinformation Heartland publishes."
Go to Skeptoid article
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