Chris who?, you ask? This guy.
He claimed to have done so here, but his claims previously flopped because they violate basic rules of common sense:
That is, if someone wants us to know that a (frequently claimed) 98% similarity between the guy fixing a computer and the chimp throwing poop proves something, I’d say it sure does. It proves that genes are only a tiny part of the story of inheritance. Seems we got a long ways to go to understand that.
Later, someone ripped his theme at Salon:, fronting the Jeremy England hype-fest (this time, the schtick is origin of life).
If you never heard of any of that stuff before, be glad. But Mooney has hit the screen again with grander plans: To modify human behaviour:
The next energy revolution won’t be in wind or solar. It will be in our brains.
…
The new research suggests that in making energy choices, people take into account much more than simple economic costs. Instead, they follow their peers; cling to habits; believe and act upon energy related “myths” (like the idea that it will take more energy to heat your house up again in the morning if you lower the thermostat all night); and respond to subtle, even subliminal cues.
In short, they are humans, warts and all, with a large array of flaws and foibles. “The view of most human cognition and human motivation that comes out of traditional economics is limited,” says Columbia University psychologist Elke Weber, who is consulting with the Navy on energy use. “It’s not to say that people can’t make rational decisions — but they’re not the only processes, and not the only motivations.”
So we need government to make decisions for us, like it was a Marine sergeant.
In that case, the only solution is to have much less government. Just not paying vast pensions for civil servants would be a good thing in itself.
Science writers won’t likely lose the pom poms any time soon. So we had better.
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