This is undoubtedly the most unimportant, indeed almost irrelevant part of my blog. But it turns out to be necessary. I have noticed at least one person refer to me as a scientist, which I am not. As I do not know her email address, and was not subscribed to the discussion list in which she made the claim, I have decided to correct the error here so that I do not claim by commission any false authority.
But if not a scientist, what am I? By training, I am a philosopher, with a particular interest in ethics, logic and epistemology (in that order). Unfortunately due to a combination of ill health, financial stress and family commitments, I have not been able to pursue a career as a philosopher. This could be regarded as an ironical test of my ability to be philosophical.
My stunted career has had one benefit. It has given me the time to study privately and very intensively first evolution, and now global warming. This has given me the opportunity to become knowledgeable, but not expert.
As is purported to have said, "An expert is someone is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject, and how to avoid them." Given this definition, I am certainly not expert on climate change. I am likely to make bad mistakes from time to time, so (and this should never need saying) do not believe anything just because I have said it.
However, I have made and seen made some very bad mistakes in climate science, and have learnt from the process. And I know from hard experience that the level of public exposition of climate science is generally woeful. Therefore, I think I have something to contribute. I have no doubt, however, that my biggest contribution is in my list of blogs (most of whom are both more credentialed, and more expert than I in climate science) and to sites for the raw data.
You should also not be confused by my confident tone. I eschew the false humility of prefacing comments as IMO (or worse IMHO). Of course all that I write is my opinion, unless specifically identified as a quote. Even when I cite facts, the facts are only my best understanding of them. This is again something that should not need saying, but I have seen too many writers on the internet who strew their comments with IMO and the like, and genuinely seem to believe that any sentence they do not so adorn is some how unimpeachable truth.
Finally, a personal note. The title of my blog comes from a song my wife sang on occasion, and which I particularly enjoyed. It probably doesn't hurt that I love Brisbane.
