DOCSLIB.ORG

Who's Afraid of Dissent? Addressing Concerns About Undermining

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Who's Afraid of Dissent? Addressing Concerns About Undermining Who’s Afraid of Dissent? Addressing Concerns about Undermining Scientiªc Consensus in Public Policy Developments Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/posc/article-pdf/22/4/593/1789955/posc_a_00151.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 Inmaculada de Melo-Martín Weill Cornell Medical College Kristen Intemann Montana State University Many argue that encouraging critical dissent is necessary for promoting scientiªc objectivity and progress. Yet despite its importance, some dissent can have negative consequences, including undermining conªdence in existing scientiªc consensus, confusing the public, and preventing sound policy. For ex- ample, private industries and think tanks have funded dissenting research to create doubt and stall regulations. To protect scientiªcally sound policies, some have responded by attempting to minimize or discourage dissent perceived to be problematic. We argue that targeting dissent as an obstacle to public policy is both misguided and dangerous. 1. Introduction Many have argued that allowing and encouraging public avenues for dis- sent and critical evaluation of scientiªc research is a necessary condition for promoting the objectivity of scientiªc communities and advancing sci- entiªc knowledge (Rescher 1993; Longino 1990, 2002; Solomon 2001). The history of science reveals many cases where an existing scientiªc con- sensus was later shown to be wrong (Kuhn 1962; Solomon 2001). Dissent plays a crucial role in uncovering potential problems and limitations of consensus views. Thus, many have argued that scientiªc communities We are grateful for the thoughtful comments and criticisms we received from two anonymous reviewers, as well as from Sharon Crasnow and Matthew Brown. This paper was substantially improved because of their efforts, though the responsibility for any re- maining problems is ours. Perspectives on Science 2014, vol. 22, no. 4 ©2014 by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology doi:10.1162/POSC_a_00151 593 594 Who’s Afraid of Dissent? ought to increase opportunities for dissenting views to be heard and taken seriously. Such opportunities are necessary for both limiting the inºuence of problematic biases and ensuring that a full range of research projects, hypotheses, models, and explanations receive adequate attention. Yet despite the epistemic importance of dissent within science, there is growing concern about the negative role of dissenting voices on public policy. For instance, private industry and think tanks have funded research whose primary aim has been to manufacture dissent by generating studies Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/posc/article-pdf/22/4/593/1789955/posc_a_00151.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 that call into question widely received views, about climate change, envi- ronmental toxins, or the hazards of smoking (Michaels 2008; Oreskes and Conway 2010a; Oreskes and Conway 2010b). In other cases, respectable scientists defend claims that are entirely inconsistent with widely ac- cepted scientiªc views (Duesberg and Rasnick 1998; Wakeªeld et al. 1998; Duesberg et al. 2003). Because such studies present what appears to be conºicting evidence, they have been used to call into question govern- ment regulations on grounds that there is a lack of scientiªc consensus (Vastag 2001; Enstrom and Kabat 2003; Duesberg et al. 2003; Michaels 2005; Michaels 2008; Oreskes and Conway 2010b). Thus, there are two sorts of negative consequences dissent can have. It can have negative epistemic consequences when it results in confusion or false beliefs about the true state of the science, the existence of a scientiªc consensus, or the degree to which a claim is supported by evidence. This can happen because those without the necessary expertise may be unable to assess the quality or extent of dissenting views. But in cases where the scientiªc evidence is relevant for public policy, these negative epistemic consequences can also have policy consequences. Scientiªc consensus is of- ten taken to be a benchmark for scientiªc knowledge (Longino 2002) and thus thought to be important for legitimately grounding policy decisions (Jasanoff 2010). Dissent, insofar as it appears to call into question the scientiªc consensus, may make it appear to the public or policymakers that there is not sufªcient evidence to support the adoption of particular public policies (Bateman 2007; Specter 2007; McGarity and Wagner 2008; Diethelm and McKee 2009; Omer et al. 2009; McKee and Diethelm 2010; Oreskes and Conway 2010b). Motivated by a desire to protect what they take to be scientiªcally sound policies, then, many scientists and science studies scholars have adopted strategies that target dissent thought to be problematic. Some have, for example, attempted to discredit dissenters by showing their ªnancial ties to industry or political think tanks (Michaels 2008; Oreskes 2004; Oreskes and Conway 2010a; Oreskes and Conway 2010b). Some scientists have engaged in practices aimed at masking existing dissent from the public so as to prevent confusion or doubt about the scientiªc Perspectives on Science 595 consensus (Beatty 2006; Waltz 2009). What these strategies have in com- mon, however, is that they all concede that such dissent—or dissent likely to have negative epistemic consequences—is an obstacle to justiªably en- acting public policy. While we share concerns about the extent to which dissent can have negative consequences, we argue here that targeting dissent as an obstacle to public policy is both misguided and dangerous. It is misguided because it relies on problematic assumptions about the nature of scientiªc dissent Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/posc/article-pdf/22/4/593/1789955/posc_a_00151.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 and consensus and the role of each in public policy development. It is dan- gerous because viewing dissent as an obstacle to policy is likely to increase illegitimate instances of dissent, deprive us of resources to criticize special interest science, and stiºe legitimate scientiªc dissent that is crucial to scientiªc progress and sound public policy. If we are correct, rather than targeting dissent, the focus of discussions should be ªnding successful strategies to help the public and policymakers better understand the na- ture of consensus and dissent, as well as their role in sound public policy making. 2. Worries about Scientiªc Dissent Clearly we want public policies, health advice, or regulatory decisions to be informed by scientiªc knowledge (Jasanoff 2004; Selinger and Crease 2006; Collins and Evans 2007; Bijker et al. 2009; Kitcher 2011). The ex- istence of a scientiªc consensus is often taken to be a proxy for such knowledge. When—through rational mechanisms—experts agree on a particular scientiªc claim, e.g., that smoking causes cancer, that anthro- pogenic effects are responsible for global warming, or that condoms pre- vent transmission of HIV, this consensus is thought to be evidence for the strength of the scientiªc evidence. Worries about dissent, then, seem to have to do with its potential to call into question existing scientiªc con- sensus, when this is not warranted by the evidence, and with it, the legiti- macy of using existing scientiªc evidence as grounds for public policy. Recent controversies in science-based public policy provide support these worries. In some well-publicized cases, for instance, oil, tobacco, and chemical companies have been shown to fund dissenting scientiªc studies in an apparent attempt to generate doubt about current scientiªc theories (Mooney 2005; McGarity and Wagner 2008; Michaels 2008; Oreskes and Conway 2010b). In some cases, scientists with ties to the tobacco industry produced several studies that rejected the consensus about a greater risk of lung cancer for smokers (Oreskes and Conway 2010; Michaels 2008). Sim- ilarly, scientists funded by the chemical industry have published studies that challenged the consensus and purported to support “hormesis,” the 596 Who’s Afraid of Dissent? hypothesis that low doses of toxins and carcinogens have some beneªcial health effects for humans (Shrader-Frechette 2010; Elliott 2011). In another now infamous case, publication of a link between the mea- sles, childhood vaccines and autism (Wakeªeld et al. 1998; Geier and Geier 2006, 2007) questioned the scientiªc consensus and presented the safety of vaccines as contested knowledge, even when no real disagreement existed in the scientiªc community (Kirby 2005; Olmsted and Blaxill 2010; Poland and Spier 2010; Shwed and Bearman 2010). As a result, at Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/posc/article-pdf/22/4/593/1789955/posc_a_00151.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 least in part because of such dissent, many parents have rejected vaccina- tions for their children, risking the loss of herd immunity for diseases that had been largely eradicated from the industrialized world (Jansen et al. 2003; Glanz et al. 2009; Omer et al. 2009; Brown et al. 2010). Thus, dissenting voices can sometimes have considerable negative con- sequences on public health and may delay or prevent needed regulations or other sound public policies. Such dissent can also waste time and re- sources, both on the side of scientists and policymakers, when they are required to continue offering thorough critiques of dissenting voices or justifying why such voices ought to be dismissed. 3. Targeting Dissent as an Obstacle to Public Policy In an effort to prevent these consequences, some scientists and science studies scholars have responded by adopting a variety of interrelated
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Roles for Socially-Engaged Philosophy of Science in Environmental Policy
    Roles for Socially-Engaged Philosophy of Science in Environmental Policy Kevin C. Elliott Lyman Briggs College, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University Introduction The philosophy of science has much to contribute to the formulation of public policy. Contemporary policy making draws heavily on scientific information, whether it be about the safety and effectiveness of medical treatments, the pros and cons of different economic policies, the severity of environmental problems, or the best strategies for alleviating inequality and other social problems. When science becomes relevant to public policy, however, it often becomes highly politicized, and figures on opposing sides of the political spectrum draw on opposing bodies of scientific information to support their preferred conclusions.1 One has only to look at contemporary debates over climate change, vaccines, and genetically modified foods to see how these debates over science can complicate policy making.2 When science becomes embroiled in policy debates, questions arise about who to trust and how to evaluate the quality of the available scientific evidence. For example, historians have identified a number of cases where special interest groups sought to influence policy by amplifying highly questionable scientific claims about public-health and environmental issues like tobacco smoking, climate change, and industrial pollution.3 Determining how best to respond to these efforts is a very important question that cuts across multiple
    [Show full text]
  • Breaking the Siege: Guidelines for Struggle in Science Brian Martin Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522 [email protected]
    Breaking the siege: guidelines for struggle in science Brian Martin Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522 http://www.bmartin.cc/ [email protected] When scientists come under attack, it is predictable that the attackers will use methods to minimise public outrage over the attack, including covering up the action, devaluing the target, reinterpreting what is happening, using official processes to give an appearance of justice, and intimidating people involved. To be effective in countering attacks, it is valuable to challenge each of these methods, namely by exposing actions, validating targets, interpreting actions as unfair, mobilising support and not relying on official channels, and standing up to intimidation. On a wider scale, science is constantly under siege from vested interests, especially governments and corporations wanting to use scientists and their findings to serve their agendas at the expense of the public interest. To challenge this system of institutionalised bias, the same sorts of methods can be used. ABSTRACT Key words: science; dissent; methods of attack; methods of resistance; vested interests Scientists and science under siege In 1969, Clyde Manwell was appointed to the second chair environmental issues?” (Wilson and Barnes 1995) — and of zoology at the University of Adelaide. By present-day less than one in five said no. Numerous environmental terminology he was an environmentalist, but at the time scientists have come under attack because of their this term was little known and taking an environmental research or speaking out about it (Kuehn 2004). On stand was uncommon for a scientist. Many senior figures some topics, such as nuclear power and fluoridation, it in government, business and universities saw such stands can be very risky for scientists to take a view contrary as highly threatening.
    [Show full text]
  • The Controversy Over Climate Change in the Public Sphere
    THE CONTROVERSY OVER CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE by WILLIAM MOSLEY-JENSEN (Under the Direction of Edward Panetta) ABSTRACT The scientific consensus on climate change is not recognized by the public. This is due to many related factors, including the Bush administration’s science policy, the reporting of the controversy by the media, the public’s understanding of science as dissent, and the differing standards of argumentation in science and the public sphere. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was produced in part as a response to the acceptance of climate dissent by the Bush administration and achieved a rupture of the public sphere by bringing the technical issue forward for public deliberation. The rupture has been sustained by dissenters through the use of argument strategies designed to foster controversy at the expense of deliberation. This makes it incumbent upon rhetorical scholars to theorize the closure of controversy and policymakers to recognize that science will not always have the answers. INDEX WORDS: Al Gore, Argument fields, Argumentation, An Inconvenient Truth, Climate change, Climategate, Controversy, Public sphere, Technical sphere THE CONTROVERSY OVER CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE by WILLIAM MOSLEY-JENSEN B.A., The University of Wyoming, 2008 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2010 © 2010 William Mosley-Jensen All Rights Reserved THE CONTROVERSY OVER CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE by WILLIAM MOSLEY-JENSEN Major Professor: Edward Panetta Committee: Thomas Lessl Roger Stahl Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2010 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people that made this project possible through their unwavering support and love.
    [Show full text]
  • Dissent and Heresy in Medicine: Models, Methods, and Strategies Brian Martin*
    ARTICLE IN PRESS Social Science & Medicine 58 (2004) 713–725 Dissent and heresy in medicine: models, methods, and strategies Brian Martin* Science, Technology and Society, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia Abstract Understandingthe dynamics of dissent and heresy in medicine can be aided by the use of suitable frameworks. The dynamics of the search for truth vary considerably dependingon whether the search is competitive or cooperative and on whether truth is assumed to be unitary or plural. Insights about dissent and heresy in medicine can be gained by making comparisons to politics and religion. To explain adherence to either orthodoxy or a challenging view, partisans use a standard set of explanations; social scientists use these plus others, especially symmetrical analyses. There is a wide array of methods by which orthodoxy maintains its domination and marginalises challengers. Finally, challengers can adopt various strategies in order to gain a hearing. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Dissent; Heresy; Orthodoxy; Medical knowledge; Medical research; Strategies Introduction challenges to it, there is a tremendous variation in ideas, support, visibility and outcome. The conventional view is that the human immunode- What is the best term for referringto a challengeto ficiency virus, HIV, is responsible for AIDS. But for orthodoxy? Wolpe (1994) offers an illuminating many years, a few scientists have espoused the incom- typology of internal challenges. One type of challenge patible view that HIV is harmless and is not responsible is to ‘‘knowledge products’’ such as disease for AIDS (Duesberg, 1996; Maggiore, 1999). The issue prognoses that question current knowledge—namely, came to world attention in 2001 when South African what are considered to be facts—while operating President Thabo Mbeki invited a number of the so- within conventional assumptions about scientific meth- called HIV/AIDS dissidents to join an advisory panel.
    [Show full text]
  • Scientists Dissent List
    A SCIENTIFIC DISSENT FROM DARWINISM “We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.” This was last publicly updated April 2020. Scientists listed by doctoral degree or current position. Philip Skell* Emeritus, Evan Pugh Prof. of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University Member of the National Academy of Sciences Lyle H. Jensen* Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Biological Structure & Dept. of Biochemistry University of Washington, Fellow AAAS Maciej Giertych Full Professor, Institute of Dendrology Polish Academy of Sciences Lev Beloussov Prof. of Embryology, Honorary Prof., Moscow State University Member, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Eugene Buff Ph.D. Genetics Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences Emil Palecek Prof. of Molecular Biology, Masaryk University; Leading Scientist Inst. of Biophysics, Academy of Sci., Czech Republic K. Mosto Onuoha Shell Professor of Geology & Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Univ. of Nigeria Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Science Ferenc Jeszenszky Former Head of the Center of Research Groups Hungarian Academy of Sciences M.M. Ninan Former President Hindustan Academy of Science, Bangalore University (India) Denis Fesenko Junior Research Fellow, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) Sergey I. Vdovenko Senior Research Assistant, Department of Fine Organic Synthesis Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (Ukraine) Henry Schaefer Director, Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry University of Georgia Paul Ashby Ph.D. Chemistry Harvard University Israel Hanukoglu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Chairman The College of Judea and Samaria (Israel) Alan Linton Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology University of Bristol (UK) Dean Kenyon Emeritus Professor of Biology San Francisco State University David W.
    [Show full text]
  • Sbchinn 1.Pdf
    The Prevalence and Effects of Scientific Agreement and Disagreement in Media by Sedona Chinn A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) in The University of Michigan 2020 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor P. Sol Hart, Chair Professor Stuart Soroka Professor Nicholas Valentino Professor Jan Van den Bulck Sedona Chinn [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6135-6743 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my grandma, Pamela Boult. Thank you for your unending confidence in my every ambition and unconditional love. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the support of the Dow Sustainability Fellows Program, which provided much appreciated spaces for creative research and interdisciplinary connections. In particular, I would like to thank the 2017 cohort of doctoral fellows for their support, feedback, and friendship. I would also like to thank the Department of Communication and Media, the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research, and Rackham Graduate School for supporting this work. I truly appreciate the guidance and support of excellent advisors throughout this endeavor. Thanks to my advisors, Sol Hart and Stuart Soroka, for all of their long hours of teaching, critique, and encouragement. Know that your mentorship has shaped both how I think and has served as a model for how I Would like to act going forward in my professional life. Thanks to Nick Valentino and Jan Van den Bulck for your invaluable comments, insistence that I simplify experimental designs, and for your confidence in my Work. I truly appreciate all the ways in which your support and guidance have both improved the work presented here and my thinking as a researcher.
    [Show full text]
  • Oreskes Testimony 29April2015
    Excerpt from Chapter 4 of Oreskes, Naomi and Erik M. Conway, 2010. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. (New York: Bloomsbury Press.), reproduced with permission. Constructing a Counter-narrative It took time to work out the complex science of ozone depletion, but scientists, with support from the U.S. government and international scientific organizations, did it. Regulations were put in place based on science, and adjusted in response to advances in it. But running in parallel to this were persistent efforts to challenge the science. Industry representatives and other skeptics doubted that ozone depletion was real, or argued that if it was real, it was inconsequential, or caused by volcanoes. During the early 1980s, anti-environmentalism had taken root in a network of conservative and libertarian “think tanks” in Washington. These think tanks—which included the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and, of course, the Marshall Institute, variously promoted business interests and “free market” economic policies, the rollback of environmental, health, safety, and labor protections. They were supported by donations from businessmen, corporations, and conservative foundations.i One aspect of the effort to cast doubt on ozone depletion was the construction of a counter-narrative that depicted ozone depletion as natural variation that was being cynically exploited by a corrupt, self-interested, and extremist scientific community to get more money for their research. One of the first people to make this argument was a man who had been a Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1980s, and whom we have already met: S.
    [Show full text]
  • Dissertation Final
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ EPISTEMIC INJUSTICE, RESPONSIBILITY AND THE RISE OF PSEUDOSCIENCE: CONTEXTUALLY SENSITIVE DUTIES TO PRACTICE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in PHILOSOPHY by Abraham J. Joyal June 2020 The Dissertation of Abraham J. Joyal is approved: _____________________________ Professor Daniel Guevara, chair _____________________________ Professor Abraham Stone _____________________________ Professor Jonathan Ellis ___________________________ Quentin Williams Acting Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Table Of Contents List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………iv Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………....v Chapter One: That Pseudoscience Follows From Bad Epistemic Luck and Epistemic Injustice………………………………………………………………………………………………....1 Chapter Two: The Critical Engagement Required to Overcome Epistemic Obstacles……….37 Chapter Three: The Myriad Forms of Epistemic Luck……………………………………………56 Chapter Four: Our Reflective and Preparatory Responsibilities………………………………...73 Chapter Five: Medina, Epistemic Friction and The Social Connection Model Revisited.…….91 Chapter Six: Fricker’s Virtue Epistemological Account Revisited……………..………………110 Chapter Seven: Skeptical Concerns……………………………………………………………...119 Conclusion: A New Pro-Science Media…………………………………………………………..134 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………140 iii List of Figures Chainsawsuit Webcomic…………………………………………………………………………….47 Epistemological Figure……………………………………………………………………………....82
    [Show full text]
  • Responding to Climate Change Skepticism and the Ideological Divide
    SUSTAINABILITY.UMICH.EDU/MJS Responding to Climate Change Skepticism and the Ideological Divide Jessica M. Santos School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 & Climate Central, Princeton, NJ Irina Feygina Climate Central, Princeton, NJ Volume 5, Issue 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/mjs.12333712.0005.102 abstract Climate change is an increasingly politicized issue in the United States, with many members of the American public, especially those who identify as politically con- servative, skeptical about this dangerous phenomenon. A host of social and psy- chological processes have been investigated in an attempt to understand skepticism and resistance to responding to the threat of climate change, including motivated reasoning, system justification theory, social dominance orientation, belief in a just world, the cultural cognition thesis, and solution aversion. In this article, we review recent research into these processes and their implications for understanding the political divide in responding to climate change. We also highlight efforts to test communications interventions aimed at ameliorating these processes underlying climate change skepticism, including framing and scientific consensus. This litera- ture review may be informative for climate change focused communicators, poli- cymakers, practitioners, and academics who directly or indirectly interact with the 5 Michigan Journal of Sustainability, sustainability.umich.edu/mjs public, or who design communication campaigns, policy, initiatives, or programs for the public. Introduction Climate change is a pressing challenge, with the potential to cause dramatic sea level rise, a higher frequency of extreme weather events, worldwide temperature increases, and climatic instability (IPCC 2013). These changes may disrupt societal functioning through increasing global migration, conflict, and disease, while en- dangering worldwide food systems (Burrows and Kinney 2016; FAO 2008; Haines et al.
    [Show full text]
  • The Difference Between Societal Response to the Harm
    THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIETAL RESPONSE TO THE HARM OF TOBACCO VERSUS THE HARM OF CLIMATE CHANGE: THE ROLE OF PARTY DISCOURSE ON THE POLARIZATION OF PUBLIC OPINION _________________ A Thesis Presented to The faculty of College of Arts and Sciences Ohio University _________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation with Honors in Political Science _________________ By Maya Schneiderman May 2018 1 Table of Contents Abstract………….…………………..……………………………………………....2 Literature Review and Argument ………....………………………………………...4 Section 1: Tobacco….…………..…………………………………………..……...12 Section 2: Climate Change……...….……………………………………….……...22 2.1: Environmental Protection: An American Value………………...23 2.1(a): Climate Science: A Changing Discourse…………………….24 2.2: Inherent Political Party Ideological Differences…………….….28 2.2 (a): Competing Economic Views………………………..29 2.2 (b): Problems Arise Between Parties……………………31 2.3: Manipulation of Public Opinion Through Denial Campaign…..33 2.3 (a): Denial Campaign……………………………....…....39 2.3 (b): Amplification of Denial by Role of Media………....43 Section 3: Discussion and Conclusion…….…….……………………………….. 46 References....………………………………………………………………………52 2 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIETAL RESPONSE TO THE HARM OF TOBACCO VERSUS THE HARM OF CLIMATE CHANGE: THE ROLE OF PARTY DISCOURSE ON THE POLARIZATION OF PUBLIC OPINION ABSTRACT This paper examines the actors involved in effectively altering public perception of scientific evidence through a comparison of the climate change denial campaign versus the tobacco denial campaign. It finds that the denial campaign conducted by the Tobacco Industry was not successful in creating uncertainty about tobacco science among the public, however, the climate change denial campaign has been successful in influencing public perception on the accuracy of climate science. By understanding the role of public perception of the risk of personal harm, this paper identifies how particular denial campaigns are successful in polarizing of public opinion on scientific evidence.
    [Show full text]
  • Rationalism and Empiricism in Modern Medicine
    NEWTON_FMT3.DOC 06/04/01 1:33 PM RATIONALISM AND EMPIRICISM IN MODERN MEDICINE WARREN NEWTON* I INTRODUCTION About ten years ago, after fellowships and clinical experience in a commu- nity setting, I had my first experience as a ward attending in a university hospi- tal.1 We were working with cardiac patients, and I was struck by the common treatment each patient received. No matter what the symptoms, patients re- ceived an exercise treadmill, an echocardiogram, and were put on a calcium channel blocker.2 This was remarkable at the time because there were in excess of thirty randomized controlled trials showing the benefit of beta-blockers, a different class of medicines, to treat patients following a heart attack. Indeed, by 1990, there was initial evidence that calcium channel blockers not only failed to improve outcomes, but actually made them worse. The point is not to criticize the medical culture at that hospital—similar ex- amples can be found at every medical center—but rather to explore why there was so much fondness for calcium channel blockers. One factor was the sub- stantial drug company support of faculty research on silent myocardial ische- mia. Another factor was what might be called medical fashion. The most likely explanation, however, was more fundamental. For my cardiology colleagues, it was biologically plausible that calcium channel blockers were better than beta- blockers. Like beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers reduce heart rate and myocardial wall stress, but they lack the side effects of beta-blockers. In other words, what was important to my colleagues was not the outcome of the critical trials, but our understanding of the mechanisms of disease.
    [Show full text]
  • The Consensus Handbook Why the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change Is Important
    The Consensus Handbook Why the scientific consensus on climate change is important John Cook Sander van der Linden Edward Maibach Stephan Lewandowsky Written by: John Cook, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University Sander van der Linden, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge Edward Maibach, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University Stephan Lewandowsky, School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, and CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia First published in March, 2018. For more information, visit http://www.climatechangecommunication.org/all/consensus-handbook/ Graphic design: Wendy Cook Page 21 image credit: John Garrett Cite as: Cook, J., van der Linden, S., Maibach, E., & Lewandowsky, S. (2018). The Consensus Handbook. DOI:10.13021/G8MM6P. Available at http://www.climatechangecommunication.org/all/consensus-handbook/ Introduction Based on the evidence, 97% of climate scientists have concluded that human- caused climate change is happening. This scientific consensus has been a hot topic in recent years. It’s been referenced by presidents, prime ministers, senators, congressmen, and in numerous television shows and newspaper articles. However, the story of consensus goes back decades. It’s been an underlying theme in climate discussions since the 1990s. Fossil fuel groups, conservative think-tanks, and political strategists were casting doubt on the consensus for over a decade before social scientists began studying the issue. From the 1990s to this day, most of the discussion has been about whether there is a scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming. As the issue has grown in prominence, a second discussion has arisen. Should we even be talking about scientific consensus? Is it productive? Does it distract from other important issues? This handbook provides a brief history of the consensus on climate change.
    [Show full text]