Seems to me that there is lots of reason to be distrustful of science. Not so much climate change and evolution as (psycho-)pharmaceuticals, food science, "clean coal," and anything else directly sponsored by a profit-seeking industry (or its agents - see esp. DSM-5 committee).
Chris --- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== On 2012-03-31, at 11:18 AM, drnanjo wrote: > > > > We also have to remember though that those who are allied with the > anti-vaccine movement > and embrace many hokey (and untested) alternative remedies, prevention > strategies and new agey "health" philosophies > are overwhelmingly left-leaning. > > I don't think that conservatives have a monopoly on irrationality. They just > have a particular idiom. So do libs. > The problem on both sides is that being rigorous requires work and accepting > that at least sometimes the results will not "please" you or make you feel > better. > > Nancy Melucci > Long Beach City College > Long Beach CA > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael Palij <[email protected]> > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <[email protected]> > Cc: Michael Palij <[email protected]> > Sent: Sat, Mar 31, 2012 7:37 am > Subject: [tips] Why Do Conservatives Distrust Science? > > It may have become apparent to many that there are certain segments > of the population that are both hostile to and distrustful of science. This > might strike scientists as bizarre because one purpose of science is > to provide a factual, truthful, accurate, and valid representation of the > world and physical reality -- and has been able to do so more successfully > that any other approach to knowledge development. The question is > why? > > There is a research article in American Sociological Review that > attempts to answer this question by examining attitudes towards > science using data from the U.S. General Social Survey (GSS) for the > years 1975 to 2010. There are a few popular media reports on this > article and here is one from "Inside Higher Education"; see: > http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/03/29/study-tracks-erosion-conservative-confidence-science > > One key result is that there has been a steady decline in > "trust of science" since 1975 to 2010 primarily in one group: > political conservatives. > > On another website, there is additional discussion plus the > first figure from the paper that shows the trend line for liberals, > moderates, and conservative; the figure says a lot: > http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10911111-study-tracks-how-conservatives-lost-their-faith-in-science?source=science20.com > > There appears to a variety of reactions to the paper and > perhaps a conservative view is presented by a blogger on > the website Science 2.0; see: > http://www.science20.com/science_20/trust_science_has_declined_among_conservatives_why-88361 > > The author of this article, Hank Campbell makes a curious statement: > > |Conservatives are not anti-science, they are anti-scientist. > |And only toward some scientists who seem to put politics > |ahead of reason. > > Which makes me wonder whether Campbell ever tried to discuss > evolution with a person who believe in creationism. What is the > creationist answer to Stephen Colbert's question to Werner Herzog, > whose documentary film "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" is about > 30,000+ year old cave paintings in southern France (see: > http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/movies/werner-herzogs-cave-of-forgotten-dreams-review.html > ) > > |"How can you have 30,000 year old paintings in a 6,000 year > |old earth?" > > Here is the reference for the ASR article: > Gordon Gauchat, 'Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere: A > Study of Public Trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010', American > Sociological Review 77(2) 167–187 > DOI: 10.1177/000312241243822 > > You might be able to find a copy here: > http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Apr12ASRFeature.pdf > > I think that this has many implications for teaching of psychology, at least > for those that teach psychology as being a science. There is the challenge > of dealing with students with a conservative outlook that do not trust/believe > in science as well as how people out of academia will attempt to regulate > the teaching of science since they might only see that as only a form of > political indoctrination, especially in the social sciences. > > One last point, if I am not mistaken, people in engineering and technology > development areas have tended to be more conservative than in those in > the basic sciences (at least this appeared to be the view to me when I > was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers [IEEE] > in the late 1970s and early 1980s). I wonder if conservatives are as > distrustful of engineering and technology? > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b878&n=T&l=tips&o=17024 > or send a blank email to > leave-17024-12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=17025 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-17025-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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