This course seemed to go very fast - the content was interesting, with lots of examples of mistakes in reasoning that people make, and an understanding of the arguments that sound persuasive to the "believers" in UFO-ology, astrology, Holocaust denial, global-warming denial and very polar religious believers. All are, to some degree, failures to understand statistics, and/or the scientific method. Confusion of scientific rigour (e.g. never accepting ideas/interpretations as 100% "solved", and keeping debates open and honest) with uncertainty.
The idea that having 99.9999% of all scientists believing something, and a small number disbelieving - how that is how science works - the onus becomes on the small group to illustrate (using scientific methods) how their unpopular idea is actually the correct interpretation. This fact of science does not alter the basic paradigm - the 99.9999% are telling the truth as understood at the given time, using current techniques, and building on all science up to the present - this is not the same as a random choice between the 99.9999% and alternatives, nor is it any sort of popularity contest, nor is it appropriate to display the "controversy" as a debate among equals (the primary argument of Intelligent Design - "teach the controversy" when there really isn't any "controversy" to teach).
Definitely a good commute listen.
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