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Toxic debates - The Public Misunderstanding Of Science

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tuga

tuga

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Interesting programme this morning on BBC World Service's The Compass (available for download):

Toxic debates - The Public Misunderstanding Of Science​

How do conspiracy theories take root and what can be done to combat them?

Across Europe, activists fearful of 5G technology have attacked phone masts. Science journalist and former BBC Science correspondent Sue Nelson teams up with science reporter Hidde Boersma in the Netherlands to find out how conspiracy theories take root and what can be done to combat them. She also hears how scientists can improve their communication and what they have learnt from debates around climate change.

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC World Service - The Compass, The Public Misunderstanding of Science, Toxic debates

How do conspiracy theories take root and what can be done to combat them?
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
Conspiracy theories take root when public figures lie, tell half-truths, or simply don't have enough information to be an 'expert'. A good example is the vaccine debate where 1/3 of Americans don't trust the CDC that the vaccines work. Why? For starters they told everyone if you got the vaccine you could go back to normal, now even vaccinated Americans are being forced to where masks indoors. That's just one of a dozen of stupid things that have been said about COVID, which lends credence to conspiracy theorists arguing the vaccines either don't work or are being used to control the population.

Yes, I'm fully vaxxed.
 
audio2design said:
Will we be tackling the arrogance and cognitive dissonance on the left as well? Nothing turns people off more than hypocrites.
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I not like to start a political discussion on ASR. I follow right wing conspiracy theorys since more than 20 years. Its easy to see from which place this dangerous BS comes.
 
popcorn-eating-popcorn.gif
 
How can you have utter fuckwits such as these doctors willfully spreading misinformation and outright lies regarding science for their own financial enrichment without them being struck off?, whatever happened to “Do no harm?”
 
The media doesn't understand science, economics, business, statistics, etc., etc., etc...

And they talk about "settled science" but almost every scientific article says, "Scientists had previously thought..."
 
SimpleTheater said:
Conspiracy theories take root when public figures lie, tell half-truths, or simply don't have enough information to be an 'expert'. A good example is the vaccine debate where 1/3 of Americans don't trust the CDC that the vaccines work. Why? For starters they told everyone if you got the vaccine you could go back to normal, now even vaccinated Americans are being forced to where masks indoors. That's just one of a dozen of stupid things that have been said about COVID, which lends credence to conspiracy theorists arguing the vaccines either don't work or are being used to control the population.

Yes, I'm fully vaxxed.
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It seems to me that many anti-vaccines are scientists, doctors.
 
Interesting points gleaned from the podcasts:
  • Sometimes conspiracy theories have been proven to be true
  • Scientists may be unprepared for dealing with human (emotional) factors of how important news is received
  • There may be vested interests working against them who are more skilled at swaying public opinion via emotional appeals, i.e., rhetoric, and they may sincerely believe their own misinformation.
 
The climate crisis is a fantasy for 99,876 % of the population.

Since 1979 and the Charney report, no one has move a finger.
 
Frgirard said:
The climate crisis is a fantasy for 99,876 % of the population.
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I think you should take a course in social statistics. Many surveys show that the vast majority in most countries rightly take the problem of climate change seriously, though obviously more so in some countries than in others. Whether that has led to action is a different matter, of course, in part because doing something may be inconvenient, and in part because of science deniers, which is what this thread is about, I guess.
 
Yes, and part of that is to accept the information and advice from experts
 
Conspiracy theories are tempting narratives for the bored and unsatisfied to become the imagined hero in a struggle for good vs bad. It's also a great way for grifters to amass power and money without much repercussion. This creates a toxic mix.

We should always be mindful of those in power, of course, but the mistrust in science partly comes from a misunderstanding of science (it's by its nature imprecise yet people demand perfection) and an understandable skepticism due to past transgressions (Tuskegee comes to mind). People's perception of scientists has also been partly formed by Hollywood evil doctor types, and to be frank, scientists are mostly nerds who are not very good at communication (*raise hand* guilty). However, the ability to ignore cold hard numbers from all doctors and scientists around the world currently is partly something else. Mistrust in science has always been there, but things like anti-vaccine conspiracies has an added layer of people living in a fantasy-land.

If you can categorize all that you believe in as good, and everyone who disagrees is bad, then your life is without doubt and uncertainties which are inherently uncomfortable. In fact, you can "fight" for good and have the moral high ground. Also, it seems that there are more grifters out there, at least on social media, than before, and they have all latched on to this understanding that as long as they go along with the conspiracies they can profit from it. The same goes for politicians, and then a vicious cycle forms.
 
BusDriver said:
Conspiracy theories are tempting narratives for the bored and unsatisfied to become the imagined hero in a struggle for good vs bad. It's also a great way for grifters to amass power and money without much repercussion. This creates a toxic mix.

We should always be mindful of those in power, of course, but the mistrust in science partly comes from a misunderstanding of science (it's by its nature imprecise yet people demand perfection) and an understandable skepticism due to past transgressions (Tuskegee comes to mind). People's perception of scientists has also been partly formed by Hollywood evil doctor types, and to be frank, scientists are mostly nerds who are not very good at communication (*raise hand* guilty). However, the ability to ignore cold hard numbers from all doctors and scientists around the world currently is partly something else. Mistrust in science has always been there, but things like anti-vaccine conspiracies has an added layer of people living in a fantasy-land.

If you can categorize all that you believe in as good, and everyone who disagrees is bad, then your life is without doubt and uncertainties which are inherently uncomfortable. In fact, you can "fight" for good and have the moral high ground. Also, it seems that there are more grifters out there, at least on social media, than before, and they have all latched on to this understanding that as long as they go along with the conspiracies they can profit from it. The same goes for politicians, and then a vicious cycle forms.
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The two golf wars and the lies that started them
The fake news on the measles by the Lancet with the Wakefield study

There are not on social media but official medias
 
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