True Grit

Folks, the science is settled.

It must be, because by gum they’ve used computer models, and we all know they are incapable of error

Flawed computer models may have exaggerated the effects of an Icelandic volcano eruption that has grounded tens of thousands of flights, stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers and cost businesses hundreds of millions of euros.

The computer models that guided decisions to impose a no-fly zone across most of Europe in recent days are based on incomplete science and limited data, according to European officials. As a result, they may have over-stated the risks to the public, needlessly grounding flights and damaging businesses.

“It is a black box in certain areas,” Matthias Ruete, the EU’s director-general for mobility and transport, said on Monday, noting that many of the assumptions in the computer models were not backed by scientific evidence.

European authorities were not sure about scientific questions, such as what concentration of ash was hazardous for jet engines, or at what rate ash fell from the sky, Mr Ruete said. “It’s one of the elements where, as far as I know, we’re not quite clear about it,” he admitted.

Gosh, this sounds awfully familiar…about some other phenomena, far far more complex than this, where our lives are being ruled by “assumptions” built into computer models.

categories Gorebal Warming, Life, Nanny State | | datetime April 20, 2010 6:08 am

2 Responses to “True Grit”

  1. sheri says:
    April 20, 2010 at 6:54 am

    Kinda like the hurricane forecast pre-panic chumming, “Prepare for a WAY more active season than usual!!!!” . . . someday, maybe, could be, possibly, we just don’t KNOW.

    They just can’t stand to say “WE HAVE NO IDEA, WE DON’T KNOW.”

  2. JeffS says:
    April 20, 2010 at 10:04 am

    More and more, people are looking at computers as being oracles, an infallible source of information and wisdom.

    I have to wonder if it’s another sign of the decline of this civilization.

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