The Nature of Science According to Donald Trump (and the Real Nature of Science).
I didn’t want to write the piece — but here I am writing about Donald Trump. From the things he’s said, it seems clear that Trump isn’t very bright. OK, there’s going to be someone that claims he is actually playing 4D chess while the rest of us are playing checkers. I don’t think this is the case. He’s just dumb — especially with regards to science.
But wait! This can still be useful. Let’s take a look at some of the science things he’s said and use that to talk about the real nature of science. It will be fun (but also a little sad). Let’s begin.
Hurricane Tracks and Models
Surely you remember this one (from the header image above). In 2019, Donald Trump (DJT) used an altered map for the track of hurricane Dorian. The basic idea is that he probably misspoke and claimed that Alabama was in the projected path. Rather than just moving on from a silly an inconsequential mistake he doubled down by changing the map so that Alabama WAS in the path.
What does this action say about his understanding of science? I think he’s saying that a model is just an opinion. So, it’s fine to change this model to another opinion — right? You like chocolate ice cream, but I’m going to say vanilla is THE BEST. We all know that there’s…
