Which alternative science group is the most harmful?

[DC Al Fine]

How is holocaust denial "alternative science"?

[DC Al Fine]

Snowguy, you've presented a lot of scientific evidence, but have you presented any to suggest why a vast community of scientists from across the world (including all major national science academies and around 90% of scientists in the field) are collaborating to fabricate a massive amount of evidence and research and are deceiving the entire world? In short: what evidence do you have to back up your allegations of a global conspiracy of scientists?

Has Snowguy been talking about global conspiracies?

It's not like all the AGW proponents discovered the truth years ago and are trying to cover it up (although the odd one has). It's mostly the emotional issue of having one's life invested in a theory/trying to get grants from sympathetic groups that makes one inclined to believe . Nothing so outlandish as a conspiracy.

[DC Al Fine]

Obviously the GM haters are by FAR the most harmful as we can actual point at the many many thousands, potentially millions of deaths they have already caused.  The three options here have murdered minimal people.

I'm pretty sure there are some 90-something holocaust deniers puttering around in Argentina who have killed people.

[DC Al Fine]

Obviously the GM haters are by FAR the most harmful as we can actual point at the many many thousands, potentially millions of deaths they have already caused.  The three options here have murdered minimal people.

I'm pretty sure there are some 90-something holocaust deniers puttering around in Argentina who have killed people.

Sure, maybe a few dozen at most.  But anti-GM people have killed many many more.  Likely millions.

Absolutely agree.

[DC Al Fine]

Yeah, I think creationists are wrong, but what harm do they do?

Education?

Education? You mean private Christian schools? Private schools have the right to teach what they want, and should go unmolested.

Creationists have tried and continue to try to spread their ignorance into public school curriculum.

What practical harm does this cause other than the facts being wrong?

[DC Al Fine]

Yeah, I think creationists are wrong, but what harm do they do?

Education?

Education? You mean private Christian schools? Private schools have the right to teach what they want, and should go unmolested.

Creationists have tried and continue to try to spread their ignorance into public school curriculum.

What practical harm does this cause other than the facts being wrong?

How is that not a big deal to you? It's deliberate misinformation at best... and propaganda at worst.

Would you be fine with an advocacy groups that demanded for spontaneous generation or flat Earth theory to be presented as fact in your son's biology courses? Those have as much credibility as the belief that our planet is 6,000-years-old.

"Other than the facts being wrong..."

Because the effects of the incorrect information are basically nil. Believing or not believing in evolution means diddly squat for 99% of the population, including most of the medical/scientific community. I'd put it on the same level as string theory or quantum mechanics. The engineer can disbelieve it and still build a perfectly acceptable bridge.

Contrast this with certain ethical or historical views, which have far more practical effects on students. Telling a 16 year old that there is no difference between having a baby alone & out of wedlock & having a baby while married is far more harmful than telling them the Earth is 6000 years old.