~ A-S-IS-WDNBTJBSPT-B-TTAE-ITEIS-T-TSMATTCIR ~ A – Skeptic – Is Someone – Who Does Not Believe Things Just Because Someone Proclaims Them – But – Tests Them Against Evidence – If The Evidence Is Solid – Then – The Skeptic Must Acknowledge That The Claim Is Real

~ A-D-I-IC-T-AAOV-A-NAOEWCTM ~ A – Denier – Is – Ideologically Committed – To – Attacking An Opposing Viewpoint – And – No Amount Of Evidence Will Change Their Minds

~ CI-H-NC ~ Crazy Ideas – Have – Negative Consequences

~ JB-TEOT-DNM-TAROCC ~ Just Because – Two Events Occurred Together – Does Not Mean – They Are Related Or Causally Connected

~ CB-HTTSWTETS-A-FWTDNME-WHETATSOEBS-A-IOTTDETSWMBW ~ Confirmation Bias – Humans Tend To See What They Expect To See – And – Forget When Things Do Not Match Expectations – We Hear Evidence That Appears To Support Our Existing Belief Systems – And – Ignore Or Try To Discount Evidence That Suggests We Might Be Wrong

~ OSCTSITQOAAINTOOC-A-UTMTOOWIAI ~ One Should Check To See If The Quotation Of An Authority Is Not Taken Out Of Context – And – Used To Mean The Opposite Of What Its Author Intended

~ YPY-OTSOY-DAA-NB-FYD ~ You Prove Yourself – On The Strength Of Your – Data And Arguments – Not By – Flaunting Your Degree

~ EITAT ~ Expertise In The Appropriate Topic

~ COI ~ Conflict Of Interest

~ BOP-WSCHBR-A-ALAOESAPEOAP-T-TBOP-FOTDWSTOTC-IINE-TPOOSPOCD-O-T-NOLI-TMSTTPOTESTV ~ Burden Of Proof – When Scientific Consensus Has Been Reached – And – A Large Amount Of Evidence Supports A Particular Explanation Of A Phenomenon – Then – The Burden Of Proof – Falls On The Dissenter Who Seeks To Overthrow The Consensus – It Is Not Enough – To Point Out One Small Piece Of Contrary Data – Or – To – Nitpick One Little Inconsistency – They Must Show That The Preponderance Of The Evidence Supports Their View

~ CINC-IIHNTTTLTETCITAATOCTO-BWSTTEAR-WNTEMCOTEOOAOA-WMPSTTDWTCBTTEIR-O-JDTRC ~ Correlation Is Not Causation – It Is Human Nature To Try To Link Two Events That Coincide In Time And Assume That One Causes The Other – Before We Say That Two Events Are Related – We Need To Examine Many Cases Of These Events Occurring Over And Over Again – We Must Perform Statistical Tests To Determine Whether The Connection Between The Two Events Is Real – Or – Just Due To Random Chance

~ ADNMS ~ Anecdotes Do Not Make Science

~ B-PAEATTCI-A-WNGTUNMWEGAT ~ But – Pseudoscientists Are Emotionally Attached To Their Cherished Ideas – And – Will Not Give Them Up No Matter What Evidence Goes Against Them

~ LATTROTE ~ Look At The Track Record Of The Expert

~ OFPPDTC? ~ Our Fellow Planetary Passengers Do They Count?

~ BAP-RTTPFCAT-SE-BTRO-E-O-SOTP-I-TOTHTOAAOTPOT-BFME-OTP-600MY-BNETIT-TC-A-B-20,000-AA-M-S-W-E-TIEFTARSITGP-B-WRDNKHMCBLBT-EPE-C ~ Biologists And Paleontologists – Refer To The Past Few Centuries As The – Sixth Extinction – Because The Rate Of – Extinction – Of – Species On This Planet – Is – Thousands Of Times Higher Than Occurred At Any Of The Previous Of The – Big Five Mass Extinctions – Of The Past – 600 Million Years – Biologists Now Estimate That In The – Twentieth Century – Alone – Between – 20,000 – And A – Million – Species – Went – Extinct – This Is Enormously Faster Than Any Rate Seen In The Geologic Past – But – We Really Do Not Know How Many Can Be Lost Before The – Entire Planetary Ecosystem – Collapses

~ TDOS-TUA ~ The – Denial Of Science – Threatens Us All

~ ME-CE:ACGNTCATBANEADPOVOAORTFTSTROTIOHOSNS ~ Media Echo-Chamber Effect: Anyone Can Get News That Confirms All Their Biases And Never Encounter A Different Point Of View Or An Outside Reality That Falsifies The Stuff They Read On The Internet Or Hear On Some News Sources

~ ‘SI’-PWA-AEIAA-WE-A-SBASM-B-WH-SBWTHL-STC-AAR-IIIITDTCABS ~ “Smart Idiots” – People Who Are – Actively Engaged In An Argument – Well Educated – And – Smart By Any Standard Measure – But – Who Have – Selectively Biased What They Have Learned – So They Can – Argue Against Reality – If It Is Important To Defending Their Community And Belief System