Essentially, I asked of commenters on Treehugger.com: “What are we talking about when we talk about Global Warming?” On what evidence did you, personally, formulate your opinion?
I fail to see how a person involved in a movement would be averse to speaking about the movement’s — or his or her own — foundation, and I fail to see how my question could be construed as being anything other than a constructive exercise. Either you present the information, an act which directly contributes to your cause, or you realize that you are unable to identify it — “there’s no there there” — and you are aware, objectively, that you have not done enough homework to be an advocate. This is also, generally, a positive development for everyone involved.
Read the thread. I believe its fair to conclude that the majority of posters do not ascribe their beliefs in AGW to anything we can actually print out and discuss. Or, if they can, they haven’t actually read the documents themselves.
This is only a conclusion relating to people who post on Treehugger, and doesn’t bear any weight regarding the strength of anyone else’s arguments. But I think you will agree its not nothing:
[...] (See my previous thread on Treehugger – http://posthumousluger.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/hello-world/) [...]