Wild salmon in British Columbia are facing extinction. Electromagnetic radiation from high voltage power lines is causing childhood cancer. Vaccines cause autism in children.
What are we to make of these statements?
All are taken from news stories; all were made by so-called experts from advocacy groups working on behalf of the public good; all are sensational and emotional.
From Frankenfood demonstrations, complete with a Grim Reaper, to a former Beatle lying on an ice floe nose to nose with a seal pup, advocacy groups are skilled at promoting their causes. And while the use of an emotional argument to pique the public’s attention in important issues need not be a problem, it does raise questions.