On 4/7/2014 8:53 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Oren:
I still think this whole thing is a pyramid scheme, so money can be
redistributed.

That would suggest a cabal that doesn't seem possible in it's
complexity. I have a pretty dim view of human nature, but that includes
people's ability to cooperate.

Exxon or the Koche brothers, I can see: they're bonded together by a
mutual desire to maximize profits.

But virtually the entire world community of scientists? What do they
stand to gain? I'd think vanishingly-few of them have any significant
economic interest/investments in alternative energy ventures. I would
think they are just trying to get published and not have their
colleagues rip what they've published to shreds.
....

That's what they've got in it -- 90% of environmental research is funded
by government grants so in a "publish or perish" world the only way to
win a grant and therefore retain their professorship is to follow the
lead of the funding agency.

Now, being an engineer/physics guy meself, I don't think 90%+ really
intend this but it's the inevitable result of eventually succumbing to
the current research trend.

There's no way one can put any serious credence in the details of the
models over the time frames they're projecting--it's ludicrous.

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