Science Made Easy: The Madeleine Jacobs Principle

When scientists hold opposing views (as in the global warming debate), who and what do you believe?

Until today, I would have said that, to resolve such a dilemma, you need to do the relevant background research, listen to the scientists' arguments and then formulate your own opinion.

But that was until today. From now on, I'm adhering to the Madeleine Jacobs Principle.

Who's Madeleine Jacobs and what's her principle?

Madeleine is the editor of the American Chemical Society's Chemical and Engineering News. In the June 30, 1997 issue Ms. Jacobs editorialized on global warming. Here's Madeleine's (precious) thought process on who's right in the debate over the science of global warming:

After noting that:

[President Clinton's failure to speak out forcefully on global warming] gives ammunition to an extremely small but vocal and influential minority of global warming skeptics. These individual have successfully created a general perception that scientists are sharply divided over whether global warming is taking place at all. They continue to work vigorously to discredit the scientific findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which represents the consensus of 2,500 scientists, [Emphasis added]

Madeleine stated:

President Clinton still has some time between now and December to take a leadership role on global warming. No one disputes that the impact of human activities on climate is complex or that research on the mechanisms of global warming must continue. But it is important to remember that the two sides in a debate aren't necessarily equal, and that in the debate over global warming, the skeptics are a very small minority.

So according to Madeleine, the global warming advocates are right because... there are more of them? It's called science by consensus. And that's the Madeleine Jacobs Principle.

But I wonder if Madeleine realizes that 500 years ago, consensus science was the Earth was flat. And during the 17th century, consensus science was that the Sun revolved around the Earth. In short, the consensus was wrong.

You see (Madeleine, are you paying attention?), science is about observations and facts, not consensus.