Difference between revisions 634112 and 634114 on scnwiki

'''John Michael Crichton''' (natu a [[Chicago]] lu [[23 di uttùviru]] dû [[1942]], scumparsu a Los Angeles lu [[4 Nuviemmiru]] [[2008]]), er n'[[auturi]] [[Stati Uniti|Miricanu]] , nu [[prudutturi di firma]], [[nu riggista di firma]], e nu [[prudutturi televisivu]]. Li sò travagghi cchiù canusciuti sù li rumanzi [[ticno-triller]], li [[firma]] e li [[prugrammi televisiva]]. Li sò travagghi sù basati di sòlitu supra lu gèniri dî [[Firma d'azzioni|azzioni]] e utilizza a(contracted; show full)
* The American Association of Petroleum Geologists Journalism Award, 2006 (''State of Fear'')
* A dinosaur, ''Crichtonsaurus bohlini'', was named after him in honor of ''Jurassic Park''[http://www.crichton-official.com/whatsnew/whatsnew_main.shtml].
* Crichton was named to the list of the "Fifty Most Beautiful People" by ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' magazine, 1992


== Speeches ==
==="Aliens Cause Global Warming"===
In 2003 he gave a controversial lecture at [[Caltech]] entitled "Aliens Cause Global Warming" [http://www.sepp.org/NewSEPP/GW-Aliens-Crichton.html] in which he expressed his views of the danger of "consensus science" — especially with regard to what he regards as popular but disputed theories such as [[nuclear winter]], the dangers of [[second-hand smoke]], and the [[global warming controversy]]. Crichton has been critical of widespread belief of [[extraterrestrial life|ET]]s and [[UFO]]s, citing the fact that there is no conclusive proof of their existence. Crichton has commented that belief in purported scientific theories without a factual basis is more akin to [[faith]] than [[science]].

===Environmentalism as a religion===
In a related speech given to the [[Commonwealth Club of California]], called "Environmentalism as a religion" [http://cdfe.org/religion.htm] (see [[Radical environmentalism]]), Crichton described what he sees as similarities between the structure of various religious views (particularly Judeo-Christian dogma) and the beliefs of many modern urban [[atheist]]s who he asserts have [[romanticism|romantic]] ideas about Nature and our past, who he thinks believe in the initial "paradise", the human "sins", and the "judgement day".  He also articulates his belief that it is the tendency of modern [[environmentalist]]s to cling stubbornly to elements of their faith in spite of scientific evidence to the contrary. Crichton cites what he contends are misconceptions about [[DDT]], second-hand smoke, and global warming as examples.

===Widespread speculation in the media===
In a speech entitled "Why Speculate?", [http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote03.html] delivered in [[2002]] to the [[International Leadership Forum]], Crichton criticized the media for engaging in what he saw as pointless speculation rather than the delivery of facts.  As an example, he pointed to a front-page article of the [[March 6]] ''[[New York Times]]'' that speculated about the possible effects of [[U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]]'s decision to impose [[tariff]]s on imported [[steel]].  Crichton also singled out [[Susan Faludi]]'s book ''[[Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women|Backlash]]'' for criticism, saying that it "presented hundreds of pages of quasi-statistical assertions based on a premise that was never demonstrated and that was almost certainly false".  He referred to what he calls the "[[Murray Gell-Mann]] [[Amnesia]] Effect" to describe the public's tendency to discount one story in a newspaper they may know to be false because of their knowledge of the subject, but believe the same paper on subjects with which they are unfamiliar.  Crichton used the [[Latin]] expression ''[[falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus]]'', which he translated as "untruthful in one part, untruthful in all", to describe what he thought should be a more appropriate reaction.  The speech also made several references to Crichton's skepticism of environmentalists' assertions about the possible future ramifications of human activity on the Earth's environment.

===Role of science in environmental policy-making===

In September 2005 Crichton testified at a Congressional hearing on climate change[http://epw.senate.gov/hearing_statements.cfm?id=246766], having been called by Senator [[James Inhofe]].⏎
⏎
==Criticism==
Many of Crichton's publicly expressed views, particularly on subjects like the [[global warming controversy]], have caused heated debate.  An example is meteorologist [[Jeffrey Masters]]' review of ''[[State of Fear]]'':
(contracted; show full)[[sv:Michael Crichton]]
[[ta:மைக்கேல் கிரைட்டன்]]
[[th:ไมเคิล ไครช์ตัน]]
[[tr:Michael Crichton]]
[[uk:Майкл Крайтон]]
[[vi:Michael Crichton]]
[[zh:迈克尔·克莱顿]]
[[zh-min-nan:Michael Crichton]]