State of Skepticism

[mogui]

Michael Crichton's new book "State of Fear" is an adventure novel about eco-terrorism. If that was all it was, it would still be worth reading. But it doesn't stop there. If you want your beliefs seriously challenged, read this book!

Crichton chastises the media for giving us entertaining catastrophe fantasies that have no scientific validity. He encourages us to give credence only to primary information sources. He blasts scientists for doing "science by consensus" rather than by offering us repeatable tests of hypotheses.

Crichton compares the past century's furor over eugenics to some modern examples of politicized science saying that scientists put their priorities on what people believe and on what they want to hear. He criticizes funding sources that give grants that serve to confirm their existing beliefs.

One of the sacred cows he shatters is Global Warming, along with others. Now you are shocked. He must be another crank skeptic! He reminds us that skepticism is a cornerstone of hypothesis testing. The back of the book is replete with annotated bibliography that points us to the original work upon which our current beliefs are based.

Dare you to read it!