‘I’m not a scientist, man': America’s next top politicians refuse to evolve on evolution and climate

[DonViejo]

ALAN YUHAS, THE GUARDIAN
05 MAY 2015 AT 09:53 ET

A neurosurgeon who believes the human brain is too complex for anyone but God, an ophthalmologist who refuses to talk about the age of the earth, and a Harvard-trained lawyer beloved by creationists are running for president of the United States, raising the prospect of an election without science.

Retired doctor Ben Carson joined senators Rand Paul (the ophthalmologist) and Ted Cruz (the Harvard alum) on the campaign trail on Monday, vying for the Republican nomination against each other and other confirmed and likely candidates including Senator Marco Rubio, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.

But despite assorted elite educations and illustrious careers, none can apparently make up their minds about basics of modern science – that the earth is about 4.5bn years old , that humans evolved from earlier primates over millions of years, and that people are making the world dangerously warm .

“I think on issues like climate change and evolution it ends up being a proxy for identity politics,” said Michael Halpern, a program manager for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “You’re not actually talking about the science, you’re talking about values.”

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/im-not-a-scientist-man-americas-next-top-politicians-refuse-to-evolve-on-evolution-and-climate-change/

[JonLP24]

1. They have evolved

They went from just outright denial, to its "not man-made", to "I'm not a scientist". Did Rand Paul make a recent comment on it because I know he acknowledged the reality of it but would obsess over wetlands. I've seen go from reasonable positions on some issues to hard right all very recently.

[3catwoman3]

2. This is such a BS response.

We are all NOT more things than we ARE. I, for example, am a pediatric nurse practitioner. Therefore, I am not a dentist, a plumber, a lawyer, a carpenter, a mechanic, a surgeon, a roofer, a meteorologist, a veterinarian, a mathematician, etc, etc, etc. When I need services/expertise I do not have myself, I either get recommendations from someone or research the credentials of people in the field. When I find someone I think I can trust, I rely on their expertise in their respective fields.

Do all these "I'm not a scientist" doofuses (doofae?) apply that same argument to all the other areas of their lives in which they are not skilled? I doubt it.