161 Antiscience Underdogs
I’ve learned the hard way that while arguing from a position of scientific consensus (climate change, importance of vaccines, evolution) may seem to have the advantage, but rhetoric and personal narratives certainly favor the underdogs.
Nobody wants to be on the side of Darth Vader and Imperial Star Destroyers, they want to root for a band of plucky rebels in rusted snubfighters led by a farmboy who never attended flight school.
Just saying.
↓ Transcript
Rob
A small band of lobbyists lose against hordes of angry climate scientists?
Craig
Didn't the Spartans win at the end of 300?
ROB
Our studies are so numerous they will blot out the sun!
CRAIG
Then we shall deny in the shade.
ROB
Is there ever a movie where the untrained underdog doesn't win against all reason?
MITCH
Cool Runnings?
A small band of lobbyists lose against hordes of angry climate scientists?
Craig
Didn't the Spartans win at the end of 300?
ROB
Our studies are so numerous they will blot out the sun!
CRAIG
Then we shall deny in the shade.
ROB
Is there ever a movie where the untrained underdog doesn't win against all reason?
MITCH
Cool Runnings?
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Just like shooting womp rats, eh Kyle?
The first (and best) Rocky.
As a person who really doesn’t follow sports, and more especially boxing, I find it odd that of the few posts I’ve made on this comic, an inordinate (OK, two) have been about boxers.
Despite how much it was romanticized, the stand of the 300 was actually pointless. In order to hold back the Persians, the Greeks had to defend both land (the 300) and sea. The battle took place at a choke point which offered the Greeks strategic advantage. However, a small track allowed the Persians to get behind the Greeks. Even knowing this, the commander had them stay put rather than retreat to another position.
Anybody else see any parallels to modern science deniers?
Thats actually a good point. Although I thought that there were supposed to be a small contingent of non-Spartan Greeks to defend the pass, but they abandoned their posts. I’m not sure there’s a parallel for that.
My memory of this is kind of rusty, because I read historians (primarily Herodotus himself, in translation) instead of watching comic book movies. So this may vary from some more recent and differently slanted versions:
The Persians were slowed down until they could find out how to get around the chokepoint. Even after they got around the checkpoint, they delayed a bit more to fight the Spartans anyway.
This gave other Greeks more time to prepare for the Persians’ movement farther into Greece. And that extra preparation time helped the other Greeks to beat the Persians. So Thermopylae was a battle that was “lost,” but because it changed the timing of other events, turned into a strategic victory. In that it is similar to the Alamo.
Although the Spartans are the ones who received the most publicity, there were other Greeks also who stayed to fight and die against the Persians; Herodotus lauds the Thespian troops in addition to the Spartans.
Is this the point where it should be pointed out that there were actually 3000 Spartans? And at least another 7000 Athenians? And that yes, the Greek commander did know about the goat-trail that led around their choke point but that the Persians didn’t know anything about it until a Greek traitor showed it to them? Or that the sea route was blocked by the Athenian navy, at the time one of the most powerful in the world (whereas the Persian navy was really more troop transports than warships), thus forcing the land route?
Yay history!
Bad News Bears. (Although making the playoffs was pretty good for the last placed team.)
What you’re forgetting is that the lobbyists aren’t trying to convince scientists, but politicians. Therefore, the scientists haven’t got a chance and as a consequence are actually the underdogs.
The number of politicians in the House in America is 9 scientists or engineers and two dozen with medical training out of 435 total. THis equates to approx. 7.5%, hardly a groundshaking percentage given that taken together, engineering and science are the most common areas for bachelor’s degrees, representing 34.9 percent of the total.
It’s not any better here in the UK where in 2010 we only had one science trained MP. It’s not changed significantly since then. Is it any wonder that politicians make bizarre and unscuentific judgements and claims and are so easily swayed by lobbyists? Would you go to a lawyer if you wanted your teeth extracted or new climate model or data assessed?
ref:
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/why-dont-americans-elect-scientists/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/education/census-finds-bachelors-degrees-at-record-level.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/only-scientist-in-commons-alarmed-at-mps-ignorance-2041677.html
Unfortunately, at least some of those in Congress with medical training are among the most egregious deniers. Senator Coburn is a lead climate change denier, while Rep. Braun not only denies climate change, he’s a creationist. They’re both MD’s.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that skepticism is usually confined only to a small area of expertise. We’re good about compartmentalizing. But this means that anyone can buy into a crazy idea, educated or not.
Well, I think this is a pretty fun pop culture analogy for the climate change political squabble, anyway. Once your extra commentary under the webcomic is included.
If you’re willing to accept *old* pop culture references for how small changes can make a big difference, maybe we can start with Charles Dickens’ Mr. Micawber, about how small-looking differences can add up to make big changes. But there ought to be something better than that too!
Woah! I didn’t realize until now that that’s Mitch! I thought he was a very Mitch-esque friend of Kate’s and Mitch stopped showing up as often for no apparent reason. For some reason, I assumed he had a similar colour palette to Kate (fair skin, brown hair), and couldn’t reconcile the black hair with that. (I’m sure I only recognized Rob, who I assumed was sandy blonde, because he’s one of the two focal characters.)
In a couple of the Rocky movies the underdog completely bites it, but he’s a trained underdog, so I don’t know if that counts. Oh! Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame! (Also the original book, but that was formulated differently.) The skinny old man is defeated by the muscular brute, and the hideous main character loses the girl to the attractive soldier.
Yeah, the problem with the science denialists is that they think of themselves as cool, freethinking rebels–and everybody know those guys always win against The Establishment.
“To claim the mantle of Galileo, it is not enough to be persecuted by an establishment. You also have to be RIGHT.” –I forget who–