
Cancun COP16 attendees fall for the “dihydrogen monoxide” petition - miked
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/08/cop16-attendees-fall-for-the-old-dihydrogen-monoxide-petition-as-well-as-signing-up-to-cripple-the-u-s-economy/
======
CodeMage
_It was designed to show that if official U.N. delegates could be duped by
college students into banning water, that they could essentially fall for
anything, including pseudo-scientific studies which claim to show that global
warming is man-caused._

I can't decide whether this is naive or deliberately misleading. First of all,
UN delegates were not duped by college students into banning water. They were
duped into signing a petition to ban water. It might have been irresponsible
of them to leave their signature on a piece of paper without thinking it
through, but it's a far cry from being "duped into banning water".

That leads me to my second point: they are UN _delegates_. They're not geeks,
they're more like managers. They'll have experts whom they'll consult. They
won't stop to try and puzzle out "dihydrogen monoxide" when approached by
obviously unofficial and (within the context) unimportant people. As a matter
of fact, given their job, they're probably used to being approached by people
ranging from genuine, serious activists to plain loonies.

Like I said, if you're an official decision maker, it's not very responsible
to appear to endorse someone else's idea without researching it properly, but
that's as far as this whole issue goes.

~~~
cabalamat
> _They won't stop to try and puzzle out "dihydrogen monoxide"_

If someone has basic scientific literacy, they won't need to stop to puzzle it
out, it'll be immediately obvious.

If someone doesn't have basic scientific literacy, they shouldn't be in a
management position in an organisation dealing with scientific matters.

~~~
CodeMage
_If someone doesn't have basic scientific literacy, they shouldn't be in a
management position in an organisation dealing with scientific matters._

Yet we see that happen on a regular basis and not only when it comes to
science. We have corporations with managers who lack basic technical
understanding of what their reports are telling them. We have politicians who
lack the basic capacity to express themselves properly and coherently. Is it
really that surprising at this point?

The world has somehow become convinced that management is something that need
not rely on the specific problem domain. It might irk us or mystify us to no
end, but it works. I suspect that it works because it really is possible to be
a good manager even if you don't have the basic understanding of your problem
domain; you just have to be able to surround yourself with trustworthy people
who do know the stuff and organize them properly. Sadly, most of managers who
lack the basic understanding of the technical stuff also happen to be bad at
management.

~~~
cabalamat
> _We have corporations with managers who lack basic technical understanding
> of what their reports are telling them._

That's because the managers' managers also lack that understanding.

> _We have politicians who lack the basic capacity to express themselves
> properly and coherently._

That's because a lot of their bosses -- the voters -- are stupid.

> _I suspect that it works because it really is possible to be a good manager
> even if you don't have the basic understanding of your problem domain_

I agree; but you do need to be wise enough to surround yourself with people
who do.

------
fondue
They did something similar on 'The Man Show' a few years back; they got women
to sign a petition to end 'Women's Suffrage'.

Someone else thought this would make a great point and put their effort up on
youtube; <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uPcthZL2RE>

------
WillyF
I think this says more about people's willingness to sign petitions (and what
those signatures are really worth) than anything else. When I was in college,
I swear someone would knock on my door or approach me on campus at least once
a week trying to get me to sign a petition. When I asked the person with the
petition questions about what they wanted me to sign, they seemed
flabbergasted. Most people just signed it so they'd go away.

Now a UN delegate should know better than to sign something that they don't
fully understand. I'm actually shocked that they'd be so lax about signing
something. Although, I must admit I don't really know who this UN delegates
are or what kind of qualifications they have.

------
aprrrr
So an industry-funded "skeptic" group went around a UN conference with a prank
petition. That's nice, but they're hand-waving about how many people actually
signed.

"radical left-wing environmentalists from around the world scrambled eagerly
to sign...almost every delegate that collegian students approached signed
their petition"

OK. Who? How many people were approached and how many signed? Why not just
publish the petitions?

It goes without saying that this was a PR stunt, but the story doesn't really
make any solid claims about what happened, despite the overwrought language
about radical left-wing environmentalist climate kooks.

------
stewiecat
We did this in high school back in '95. We got the regular chemistry teacher
to sign it to the chagrin of our AP chemistry teacher.

~~~
grandpa
What's an AP teacher (for us forriners)?

~~~
lylejohnson
Advanced Placement (AP) courses in U.S. high schools are intended to be much
more intensive than the "regular" courses. When done right they tend to make
students better prepared for college coursework.

~~~
joezydeco
Most US colleges will grant you credit on early courses in subject material if
you score well enough on the tests.

If you take enough AP tests and pass, you can pretty much start 1/2 year ahead
of your peers or more. That can save you money and/or time, or let you get on
with advanced studies.

------
jellicle
Ha, you spent an entire day and managed to get three (watch the video) three
signatures on a petition to ban water. Three out of the thousands of attendees
didn't pay enough attention not to sign your petition.

That must prove global warming doesn't exist. Good job!

~~~
gojomo
And, one or more of the signers may have been pranking them, too. If ever
asked to sign a Dihydrogen Monoxide petition, I'd try to keep a straight face
and get fake names on it, like 'Suffo, Kate' or 'Sneaux Jawb' or 'I. P.
Freely'

------
aufreak3
Put people in front of a camera and most are probably thinking "this sounds
important and I don't want to look like an idiot", and all the while the
petition taker's words are flying above their heads.

