Ars Technica:
For a host of issues, like vaccine safety, climate change, and GMO foods, public opinion is a poor match for our scientific standing. That dissonance has led a lot of people to ask how we could do better at getting scientific information out to the public. But the Pew Research Center decided to ask a related question that’s just as important: where’s the public getting its scientific information now?
The answer, disappointingly, is that most people in the US aren’t getting any scientific information at all.
While this study is on Americans, there’s no reason to believe other countries would do any better. Many of us seek out more information about our favorite sports team than we do science news.
And so, Trump and his posse of sharpshooting shitheads took over.
There’s plenty of reason to believe other countries would do better. The US has many very smart people, but it also has a disproportionate number of ignoramuses. Look at the bozo that they elected. Anyone who voted for that guy is objectively a sucker.
isn’t that also an indictment of the general press for not routinely covering science news?
The US has always had a strong anti-intellectual streak. Over history it seems to have consistently done battle with the forces of progress. I don’t think this is all bad, but right now we need a big swing of the pendulum towards rational leadership and policy.
I agree of course, but the obvious question is whether it would matter much. A third of the country already thinks actual “news” is fake; what difference would it make if it covered science a little bit better?
Having said that, it would certainly make a difference, it’s just depressing to realize how effectively minds have been co-opted by nefarious interests of virtually every kind.
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This report bugs me.
I know scientists who don’t bother seeking out science news. They’re regular people who are into sports, politics, gossip, the weather and heaven forbid, even the arts!
So do we have to be seeking out science news? Can we stop bashing the country and filling us with guilt because there’s a bunch of single moms trying to raise their kids and seniors trying to live off their meagre savings and blacks fighting racism and women seeking equal pay let alone them all trying to grapple with the latest scientific findings.
Yes, we do have to be seeking out science news on things that are relevant to everyday life.
Ignorance gives rise to nonsense like anti-vaxers and climate change denial.
This began long before him. Our public education system’s been under steady attack for four decades.
“Bashing the country” is an umbrella term that means nothing.
When something as important as public education (or indeed the whole false-scarcity conservative argument that has broken it) is functioning far less well than it once did, the problem needs to be addressed.
So do we have to strive to be well-rounded human beings? Shouldn’t we pigeonhole our own lives and then pretend we’re not responsible for bad decisions made in our names?