To What Degree Does the Science Matter?

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Barbara Walters: I think the conflactiona you just articulated, barbara, between the science and then the business and the marketing and the politics. And we see that with the vaccines. I've heard people say, i i'm not going to get a vaccine. Trust big farma. So im separating out the science from what the science really says from, you know, marketing and, om the politics and business. Those are sort of separate issues. Not that they're unrelated but i think when people are am doubling down on the political issue or the economic issue, they flate a little bit of that with their resistance to the science.

Michael Shermer speaks with Gale Sinatra and Barbara Hofer about the key psychological explanations for science denial and doubt that can help provide a means for improving scientific literacy and understanding — critically important at a time when denial has become deadly. Sinatra and Hofer offer tools for addressing science denial and explain both the importance of science education and its limitations, show how science communicators may inadvertently contribute to the problem, and explain how the internet and social media foster misinformation and disinformation. The authors focus on key psychological constructs such as reasoning biases, social identity, epistemic cognition, and emotions and attitudes that limit or facilitate public understanding of science, and describe solutions for individuals, educators, science communicators, and policy makers. If you have ever wondered why science denial exists, want to know how to understand your own biases and those of others, and would like to address the problem, this book will provide the insights you are seeking.