I studied a science based degree, high in statistics, it also required the critical analysis of journal articles posted by the latest scientists. From critical study classes the acronym JORIPIEF was stamped into our consciousness. It stands for Justification, Operationalisation, Replicability, Internal Validity, Presentation, Interpretation, External Validity and Final Analysis. At the end of the Critical Theory course we did a 6 hour straight up exam, reading through a paper and then writing an summary essay on the paper's findings. I doubt if there was anyone who didn't love the course. It really tested your mind and ability to pull apart a pier reviewed article not seen before. This piece of education I still carry around with me today and have done for nearly 30 years. It is useful and I'm sure has made me more science conscious than the ordinary Joe Blogs who just accepts things. I even wonder why the heating engineer doesn't use the Kaizen principle of asking the 5 whys. Hence their being called out every year to fix the boiler. It makes me hold little faith in heating engineers, but my degrees were not in plumbing and fixing heating otherwise it would of been sorted. I mean, could I really sell such information to supposed experts? With the question "Do you ask yourself why, five times when fixing the boiler?" Why did this part break? Found the answer first time then ask again repeatedly until running out of answering and the boiler was permanently fixed. The same goes for this age of information or as the Trump likes to call it fake news information, funny how he seems to be the generator of the most fake news about in American politics.
It is a odd time to be living in Britain. It's like the world of the internet has also come to a new and different age of development. It is the one of conspiracy theories, fake news, brainwashing and sheeple of all kinds who have self radicalised into one theory or another. The country is at war with itself over BREXIT and it's like we can't turn to the left or the right to find out what is real. The enormous majority of the voting public have not an iota notion of the scientific method, are unable to think for themselves or believe they are actually thinking for themselves when they are not. All because they have been fed a theory from a conspiracy theorist who likely has an inkling of a mental illness but goes about the country with their smart phone filming episodes where they challenge authority figures or police. They may even get arrested and released, but this only makes their followers follow more and bleet like a sheeple at the great unravelling of a mystery. Which isn't really a mystery at all it's a crack pot, tin hat, flim flam, loopy lou quality nut job. When challenging the conspiracy theorists they can't take the challenge either, they are fixed in a mode of thought which is to protect their dedicated hours of viewing brain decaying crap.
It was with sadness I heard the death of the great James Randi, a man who I would of loved to have met. A man who took on the world of flim flam and found many who were willing to make money out of the naive, the ones wanting answers but not willing to put the time in themselves to find truth by science. One thing is for sure if the world carries on this way the human population will deserve to commit self harm and die off. Well, you gotta laugh, if you don't you'd cry.
We are made of start dust billions of years old and to which we will all return.
