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The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

scientificamerican.com

61–70 of 127 posts

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#61
post #58
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I call it "Science with a capital S." It seeks to find and destroy an outgroup, always, like a bad cult. It portrays non-believers as harmful. There's no exceptions. Outsiders are always portrayed as dangerous with many lives at stake. It's never about the science but about rooting out the people who disagree. It's purely a political movement and has almost nothing to do with science. As a religion, it's the worst re…

Science as a religion is known as "scientism". (A greentext user was posting this valid point and seems to have been zapped)

Yeah but I don't like it. If only someone hadn't taken "scientology"...

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#62
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Only if you ignore anti-vaxxers, healing crystals, “food without chemicals”, essential oils, etc can you say with a straight face anti-science is a problem driven by the right. It’s hard to take an article seriously when it only points the finger in one direction.

The only thing I can really say would be the "food without chemicals" part. The rest of that is pretty apolitical except the anti-vaxx movement.

What I listed is not exclusively found on the left side of the spectrum but I’ve never met a right winger who is into healing crystals or essential oil quite like the crunchy hippies of the west coast.

Again, there are plenty of examples of anti-science thinking across the political spectrum.

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#63
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anti-vax took a weird twist over the past decade. It used to be a hippie-liberal notion, heavily informed by being anti-corporate anti-big-pharma. But it became more mainstream and cross-party when endorsed by celebrities, and then cross-fertilized with the anti-science anti-government Republican party. I'm sure the crunchy-granola antivaxers are still out there, but they were a fringe group and remain a fringe group…

> But for the GOP it's mainstream. No, it's really not. It's only mainstream in the GOP if you get your news from the left - if you associate with and listen to people on both sides of the aisle, you realize that it's a fringe element on both sides.

[deleted]

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#65
post #57
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> possible, and worth the risk, to open schools for younger children Could you elaborate on this? It seems to be clear that while children themselves are relatively unscathed, they spread the virus among themselves and to their family members quite effectively.

I mean, Google will tell you everything you need to know: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br... > Based on the data available, in-person learning in schools has not been associated with substantial community transmission. Although national COVID-19 case incidence rates among children and adolescents have risen over time, this trend parallels trends observed among adults.17 Increases in case…

well, look at current numbers and see where that took us. Apparently, open schools, depending on factors of air filtering etc., can contribute quite a bit to the spread of covid - as recent studies suggest.

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#66
post #45
post #13

Any group/person/movement with any agenda other than promoting science and reason must necessarily be against science and reason at points. Any “agendaism” must be prepared to attack science and reason as well as proponents of science and reason. I’m not suggesting other agendas aren’t important. Rather that they can incur a science-debt, and don’t typically have the motivation to pay it off. Edit: I should be clear…

I think you are spot on. I also think much of the "anti-science" right is a reaction to the "anti-science" left, which has lots of ideologies that cannot be defended by pure reason alone, and need to be defended instead by online angry mobs. Whether it's to do with social issues (crime, racial issues, gender issues, abortion, immigration, etc), pop ideas today are defended by a "how dare you" if you are not in the mo…

More than a reaction. Any agendaist who opposes science also makes it easier for other agendaists to oppose science. Their methodologies are essentially open source! I get in many arguements with friends and loved ones, not because I disagree with what their agenda represents, but because their methods are problematic. It’s very hard for someone not to take it as an attack of their values.

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something about a lie making it half way across the world before the truth can get its boots on. We, as a general population, have proven that completely uncensored speech gives way too much weight to ideas that have no merit.

Quite the opposite. We proved that the imposition of “acceptable” information and censorship to protect it holds back societies, and can see that those with greater freedoms do better economically and otherwise.

[citation needed] That's a pretty bold statement. I'm pro free speech, but believe it should have limits in a civilized society.

I don't know what the answer is, or where the line should be but entirely unrestricted free speech isn't the infalable utopia that the US is conditioned to believe.

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#68
post #42

Eh, the political left is just as guilty of abusing "science" for its own agenda. If you look at what peer reviewed articles in medical journals say about COVID, and then you look at the "pro-science" left-leaning-media coverage - you'll see two entirely different things. The political left picks and chooses the findings it likes to fit the narrative, and exaggerates them for effect. In the United States, if you live…

> There's no such thing as "science says"

This. Whoever knows and respects science knows it's a process, it's slow, it's full of contradictory results, hesitations, contrarians and cliques. It's the best we have for getting closer to useful truths about the world, but if you think you can take the last published paper and use that as the final support for your worldview, then you didn't understand how it works.

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#69
post #27

This conflates "official positions of authorities" with "science". It's like a modern religion, with three tenets: (1) science made everything around us (iPhones and airplanes!) (2) we speak for science (3) therefore you must believe our conclusions. But in fact, that's the opposite of a proper scientific attitude, which always admits doubt, and believes experiment over authority. As for why authorities are increasin…

The mask thing was a Noble Lie to prevent PPE shortages: https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/yes-experts-will-lie-to-yo... I agree that that erodes trust, but it was for "a reason".

Lying is lying. Instead of lying they could have simply said, "Here's how to turn a tshirt into a mask. If anyone can mass produce masks, start now!"

No lie needed. In fact the lying made things worse. Saying masks arent needed means people didnt work to produce masks early on.

Re: The Antiscience Movement Is Escalating, Going Global and Killing Thousands

#70
post #57
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> possible, and worth the risk, to open schools for younger children Could you elaborate on this? It seems to be clear that while children themselves are relatively unscathed, they spread the virus among themselves and to their family members quite effectively.

I mean, Google will tell you everything you need to know: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br... > Based on the data available, in-person learning in schools has not been associated with substantial community transmission. Although national COVID-19 case incidence rates among children and adolescents have risen over time, this trend parallels trends observed among adults.17 Increases in case…

Google will tell you all sorts of things. But it does generally seem to confirm this view with a few caveats - risk is higher in older children, and transmission to and among staff still possible.

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/children-and...

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...

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