Inspired by Michael Specter's talk on science denial I feel this is the subject I will further research into. It's an incredibly broad subject that covers many issues from health to intelligence to environmentalism and conservation, and it is a present danger in the first world that people, who are only so fortunate in the lives they live in because of scientific progress, are now denying it in favour of unproved and 'alternative' methods and beliefs.
I want to look into some key areas related to science denial:
Science denial as a whole, global warming and the environment, why governments don't put as much money into science, recycling, vaccinations and pseudo health, genetically modified foods, creationism vs evolution and most importantly- why people feel the need to fear or deny science seeing as it is the only reason life is as good as it is.
I've gone back to TED talks for a few longer talks almost around the subject:
Micheal Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things, Richard Dawkins Militant Atheism and a talk by Sam Harris: Science can Answer Moral Questions.
Shermer's talk was a humorous one, not really relating to science denial but looking briefly into why people believe things without evidence and how easily the human mind can be swayed into believing something: an example is the Virgin Mary present in a cheese sandwich and on a glass window.
He made a few funny comments, firstly that the virgin Mary on the cheese sandwich looked a lot more like a 1940's movie star and that when he and a few colleagues went to see the virgin Mary in Florida they took a walk around the building to discover wherever there was a palm and a sprinkler there appeared to be another Mary only this one partly wiped off because, as he said 'I guess you can only have one miracle per building.'
The talk on science answering moral questions given by Sam Harris wasn't really based on science or science denial more of a question that morality is a subject that people can look at factually just like any other discipline. There were however a few quotes that spoke to me and I feel can relate to science denial.
The first is a universal quote 'It is easier to break things than to fix them'. If we look at science and progress it will be a much easier path to undo all the work built up over thousands of years of human development rather than to carry on solving big problems and answering big questions. This does not mean that going back is the right answer.
The second 'When we are talking about facts certain opinions must be excluded; that is what it is to have a domain of expertise, that is what it is for knowledge to count.' This can relate directly to people who campaign for science denial, the holistic healers, the psychics, the anti global warming groups. Just because they have an opinion on the subject does not by any means mean their opinion is fact, or it is correct, or it should be listened to. Sometimes we must accept that just because we can't understand or comprehend something it doesn't make it untrue; I can't comprehend or visualise the size of the universe or the way sub atomic particles move, this is why I rely on people with far greater knowledge than me to understand these principles, science regulates itself with theories challenging other theories, it can only be considered fact when proven. Ignorance is not a strong enough basis for denial.
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