Re:Attempts to scientifically “rationalize” policy may be da...
by AtlasBarfed on Wednesday September 29, 2021 @02:24PM
(#28697820)
To your point, American anti-intellectualism continuously undermines the "I am trustworthy" aspect of science. For a country whose current rise to prominence was so clearly aided by technology, and whose future relevance depends on technical innovation in an uncertain global future...
We are so lucky that COVID is only going to kill a million americans or so (700k and counting, probably 850k by Jan 1st), if this was the death rates of smallpox or the black death... ye gods. Our lack of respect in science is a huge part of vaccine hesitancy and our key role in continuing the pandemic.
The news media are terrible because for decades they have reduced science and technology either to simplistic caricatures, star trek gobbledygook, or even worse the WELL THEY SAID THIS, NOW THEY SAY THAT.
The general media's constant use of the high school nerd trope for all science and technology proficiency has been a long term failure in the progress of our civilization. Only, and only, because such proficiency leads generally to some degrees of upper middle class money to vast wealth is the reason it hasn't been worse.
But that media trope has always colored all science and technology policy as culturally "well, that's what the nerds say, and they aren't cool or fun".
Possibly it goes back to how most ultra-rich """elite""" made their money in America: by control and exploitation. People that have influence and position distrust science, because it is complicated and unknown and preys on their paranoia, and so often for industrialists produces complications to their overall plan of "make money by selling products, offloading the actual environmental cost/impact of those products on ... anyone else".
Maybe I'm paranoid, but it does seem with the mastery of social media propaganda/manipulation by monied interests, sowing distrust in science is now at an all time high.
So the business-friendly right will distrust science because it threatens their money and power. The apathetic center won't like science because it isn't cool. The left... well, scientists are generally white and male so they are distrusted by identity activists, and the rest of the left is too disorganized to rally around science policy effectively.
We are so lucky that COVID is only going to kill a million americans or so (700k and counting, probably 850k by Jan 1st), if this was the death rates of smallpox or the black death... ye gods. Our lack of respect in science is a huge part of vaccine hesitancy and our key role in continuing the pandemic.
The news media are terrible because for decades they have reduced science and technology either to simplistic caricatures, star trek gobbledygook, or even worse the WELL THEY SAID THIS, NOW THEY SAY THAT.
The general media's constant use of the high school nerd trope for all science and technology proficiency has been a long term failure in the progress of our civilization. Only, and only, because such proficiency leads generally to some degrees of upper middle class money to vast wealth is the reason it hasn't been worse.
But that media trope has always colored all science and technology policy as culturally "well, that's what the nerds say, and they aren't cool or fun".
Possibly it goes back to how most ultra-rich """elite""" made their money in America: by control and exploitation. People that have influence and position distrust science, because it is complicated and unknown and preys on their paranoia, and so often for industrialists produces complications to their overall plan of "make money by selling products, offloading the actual environmental cost/impact of those products on ... anyone else".
Maybe I'm paranoid, but it does seem with the mastery of social media propaganda/manipulation by monied interests, sowing distrust in science is now at an all time high.
So the business-friendly right will distrust science because it threatens their money and power. The apathetic center won't like science because it isn't cool. The left... well, scientists are generally white and male so they are distrusted by identity activists, and the rest of the left is too disorganized to rally around science policy effectively.