Rogan

You been following the latest Joe Rogan controversy? Keep in mind that Rogan is a self-avowed leftie who is nevertheless open-minded enough, on his popular talk show "The Joe Rogan Experience," to allow opposing viewpoints to be expressed. This automatically makes him persona non grata to the left, which only wants lockstep conformity. 

Recently, Rogan had Dr. Jordan Peterson back on his show (I think the two are becoming friends), and Peterson said some things about climate change, climate modeling, and climate alarmism that triggered a controversy among those who think the public should be kept in a state of constant fear about the environment. Among the things Peterson said was that climate models, being based on so few factors (while climate itself is governed by a near-infinity of factors), are inherently inaccurate. 

Enemies of Peterson went ballistic and immediately committed the genetic fallacy, saying, "Well Peterson isn't a climate scientist, so what he's saying is wrong." This is nonsense, of course. What Peterson said was perfectly rational and could easily be applied to other sciences. Modeling is an inherently flawed way to look at the world, whatever its virtues. Modeling can give us a partial understanding of certain phenomena, and it has definitely been part of many scientific advancements, but if you're unable—because of ideological blindness—to see that modeling is also inherently flawed (which is all Peterson was pointing out; he said the error factor compounds itself the further ahead into the future you try to predict, which is also a reasonable claim), then you're not in touch with reality.

I find it amusing to see the climate-alarmist left so triggered by all this; the recent Neil Young kerfuffle—in which Young made the ultimatum that Spotify, which hosts both music and the Rogan podcast, would have to choose between Young and Rogan—was because of the Peterson interview (Spotify basically chose Rogan; Young's music is now gone). Young contended, along with other lefties, that Rogan and Peterson were purveying "misinformation," the latest leftie buzz word meant to shut down open discourse. In doing so, Neil Young showed himself to be yet another ex-rebel now shilling for The Man. So many in the arts these days are propagandists for the state, at least when the Dems have the power.

Rightie comedian Adam Carolla has weighed in on the controversy. As the naysayers were claiming Dr. Peterson knows nothing about how science works and that climate models are accurate predictors of the future, Carolla had to ask, "What have you guys been right about?" This is a reference to how bad climate models, abetted by a fearmongering mentality, have led to a slew of wild-eyed predictions regarding the environment that simply haven't come true over the years. No more polar ice? Didn't happen. Pacific Island nations totally under water? Didn't happen. No more snows of Kilimanjaro? Didn't happen. Extreme coastal flooding for the US? Didn't happen. On and on and on.

As one Instapundit commenter pointed out, these models can't even "predict the past," i.e., when the models are applied to some past time and used to "predict" what ought to happen ten years after that point, they fail to accord with the actual historical record of what really happened. The models are all garbage. Could they be made more accurate? Theoretically. But for now, they're useless.

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with open discussion and skepticism of these sacred cows of the left. There's nothing bigoted, for example, about noting that a trans woman is still chromosomally male (leftie JK Rowling has been cancelled for stating this common-sense fact) and can outperform cis-women in sports. There should be no controversy in mentioning that, if you eliminated the problem of black-on-black urban violence in America, over 90% of "gun control" problems would disappear. Discussing the problems with the COVID injections shouldn't lead immediately to cries of "misinformation!" All of these very obvious things are treated like farts in a church by the left. The emperor has no clothes, and the left will scream as loudly as it can to avoid hearing that truth. The left is doing its damnedest to stifle any discussion of sensitive matters, and that's the state we find ourselves in today. As a former president liked to tweet: Sad!