Seth Godin writes a daily blog. If you are not familiar with it, I recommend subscribing at www.sethgodin.com/sg.

Godin’s latest blog discusses endogeneity, defined by him as “a fancy term for confusing cause and effect. For not being clear about causation and correlation.” He adds that, “It’s one reason why smart people make so many mistakes.”

Later, I watched a very interesting YouTube video about Nobel winner, Dr. Barry Marshall. It is a story where Dr. Marshall was ridiculed for his theory about the cause of stomach cancer by 97 percent of the medical scientists. Ironically, the first media to promote his theory was the Star. Full disclosure: 75 percent of my uncle’s stomach was apparently unnecessarily removed to cure stomach ulcers around that time.

Does that remind anyone of global warming? I don’t pretend to understand the many interactions that affect our climate. Dr. Marshall, however, proved that we should not trust scientists or the media who proclaim “the debate is over.”

Fortunately our paper shows views from both sides of political issues. Others feel they know everything and prefer to live in an echo chamber. NPR, are you listening?

Mike McConnell
Gainesville