The Mistrust of Science and Scholarship

[Deorum]

Well, as you mention there is a difference between skepticism and misunderstanding. We should be skeptical of new data, as well as old data. We should insist on properly documented information. When somebody tries to convey information of which we have no knowledge, our response ought to be, "show me." It is important that we get the facts straight before we begin to invest resources on a potential problem. We can be concerned about a subject before we have all of the facts, but concern should lead to further investigation to ensure that whatever the potential problem is, is in fact a problem. Otherwise we will wind up prioritizing incorrectly, wasting resources of all kinds (time, human resources, energy, natural resources, etc.) as well as potentially causing damage to other situations.

One thing important to understand here is that for the most part scientific studies and the data collected in those studies are accurate. However, inaccuracies occur when people and organizations skew those results, take them out of context, and manipulate them to create misinformation to support whatever it is that they are claiming. This manipulation tarnishes the credibility of these organizations, and I think this is a large part of the reason why many people are so hesitant to believe what they hear. You have to understand that while we all should demand evidence for what we hold to be true, most of us don't. And many don't understand the difference between information and propaganda.

Many people want to have an agenda about which to be concerned. Humans like controversy. This is why when you open a newspaper, it is easy to find bad news. Bad news is what sells. Nobody wants to read a story titled, "Everything's Okay: There is Nothing Going On" because it is boring and offers nothing new. When a new story emerges, there are basically three types of people: those who do not care about it (either because they are lazy or it does not affect them), those who demand to see the evidence so they can understand and see it for themselves, and those who believe it and accept it as truth without any evidence. It is this last group of people who are searching for an agenda, any agenda, about which to be passionate. Let's call them lemmings.

The topic which came up on this thread has been environmentalism, and it is a great example, so let us use that. Certainly, envrionmental issues are important. Nobody wants our environment to deteriorate. However, there is a stunningly large amount of misinformation and hysteria about how bad our environment currently is. This is in large part due to our preference for bad news. Many environmental organizations propagate misinformation in both their own publications, as well as other forms of media, in order to gain support from the lemmings. Claiming that the world is in danger of coming to an end is just about the scariest and worst thing you can say. And the lemmings eat it up. What they do not realize is these organizations at their cores are really not driven so much by environmental issues, but are more driven by socialism, anti-government, and anti-corporatism. They use environmental issues to rally the lemmings for their political causes and as fund raisers, because these are the people who are most easily manipulated. They cannot manipulate those who do not care, nor can they manipulate those who check their claims. But they can manipulate people who are looking for an agenda without actually understanding it.

These lemmings' typical reaction to anything to the contrary of what they "know" to be true is then to become defensive. Anything that could possibly contradict what they stand for must be inaccurate. They become infuriated. They adopt the motto, "anything for the environment." They refuse to consider a cost-benefit analysis. In its place, they claim that if it's good for the environment, it should be done. Nevermind the cost. Nevermind how much it will hinder the growth of the human species. Nevermind the other problems going on in the world. And certainly nevermind any evidence to the contrary. This is also a large part of where that mistrust comes from. People who believe what they want to believe, and who do not know the difference between propaganda and information in the first place. These people know that there is misinformation out there, they just do not understand from whom it is coming or how to tell the difference.

I wanted to post more, as well as some examples, but I do not have the time to cite anything right now. I'll check back in when I can.