CNN has posted a story about the handful of academics who publicly believe in 9/11 conspiracy theories and who lend their academic credentials to the same. The general thesis among this crowd is that crashing airlines into the buildings could not have caused the collapse.

As you read the article it quickly becomes apparent that most of these academics have no expertise in the area on which they are opining and to which they lend their academic prestige.

One of the leading figures in this group is a lecturer (not Professor) at the University of Wisconsin who teaches a course in Islam.

A Google search on this guy suggests he has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin, two master's degrees from San Francisco State University (figures) and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I couldn’t find out the focus of his graduate degrees but given the topic of the course he teaches (on Islam) and his bachelor’s degree in journalism, I doubt he has specialized engineering training.

The article also quotes, among others, a "retired philosophy professor. I have respect for the field of philosophy but I also doubt this guy is qualified to give a forensic engineering opinion

Forensic analysis requires some pretty specialized training. As a lawyer, I am often pointing out the limitations of a putative expert’s ability to provide competent evidence. For example, an emergency room doctor who treats a gunshot victim can probably tell you with accuracy where the wound was, the angle of entry of the bullet, and the resulting bodily damage. They maybe even dig the bullet out for you. The doctor, however, is not especially able to tell you who shot his patient. Their education and training is simply inapplicable to the task.

I note that the CNN article quotes a skeptic as saying "[I]t's science, but it's politically motivated. It's science with an ax to grind, and therefore it's not really science." (This sounds to me an astute observation of much of the global warming advocacy science as well. There is plenty of valid science addressing the issue of whether or not we are experiencing man-made global warming, but there is also too much invalid politically motivated science.)

The moral of the story is to be skeptical of self-anointed experts. Always ask your self if the person really is any more qualified than you or I.
- posted by Thomas @ 4:53 PM 0 comments