Re: [Phys-L] just for fun?

[Ze'ev Wurman <zeev@ieee.org>]

On 1/4/2014 6:35 AM, John Denker wrote:
>   Some people who think it was OK to go to war based on
>   /highly/ imperfect information turn around and say we
>   must not take action on climate change because the data
>   is not 100% exactly perfect in every detail.   Sheesh.

You don't want to politicize it even more, do you? If yes, just say so.

> 2) Research is very often open-ended.  For example,
>   researchers are busy building climate models with
>   progressively finer regional detail.
>   

Agreed. But wouldn't it be nice if we were to observe at least *some* 
significant climate phenomenon that the models predicted, or caused us 
to go back and find previously-unobserved model-predicted phenomenon in 
past data, before we impose a major public policy change with major 
economic costs on the world? So far AFAICT we need to adjust the models 
every time we get significant new data rather than the other way around. 
That doesn't instill much confidence in the robustness of the models.

> 3) Deciding to do nothing is a decision!!!!!
>
>   Anybody who thinks it is OK to make a do-nothing decision
>   based on imperfect information -- but not OK to make any
>   other decision -- is disqualified from making decisions,
>   and from telling other people how to make decisions.

Now, if deciding to do nothing is a decision as you say (with 5 
exclamation marks) -- and as I agree -- then why it is *not* OK "to make 
a do-nothing decision based on imperfect information," but it is OK to 
make a decision to do something based on the same imperfect information? 
Are you speaking as a rational physicist here when you decide who to 
qualify and who to disqualify based on this? We are *always* making 
decisions based on imperfect information but we do not always decide to 
act on it. It's surprising you don't recognize that.

> ....
>
>   The fact that the Koch brothers want us to think otherwise
>   cannot change the physics.

Do you want to politicize it even more? Just say so. Oh, I already asked 
this question.