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Criticizing Technology

If you don’t want to see skeptics and libertarians “taking the side” of “big corporations,” don’t base your criticisms of them on false assertions and pseudoscience. Get your facts straight at the outset, and don’t argue beyond where they will take you. Skeptics don’t have any particular love for industrial giants, either, but what we don’t tend to do is use reasoning that guarantees a certain outcome, regardless of the evidence. Here’s how most reactionary, Luddite thinking works:
1. Assume any new product or technology is guilty until proven innocent.
2. Deny any evidence that could prove it innocent as fabricated.
3. Dismiss critics as deluded or paid off.
4. Invent a conspiracy to explain a lack of mainstream scientific support.
This kind of reasoning is absolutely impervious to reality, and it can be used support any position, no matter how absurd. Whenever you see an insular arguments like this, it’s almost guaranteed to be wrong. Don’t assume what you’re trying to prove–unless you’re trying to prove you’re an idiot. You shouldn’t confuse questions about the science with questions about a particularcompany, and don’t embrace any argument, no matter how appealing, until you are sure of its validity.

That's from Daniel Bier at the Skeptical Libertarian Blog.