Eugenie C. Scott discusses the denialism of climate change and evolution. She highlights the techniques used by deniers, such as presenting scientific issues as unsettled and demonizing opposition. The underlying ideologies differ, with creationism being religious and climate change denial being political or economic. The episode explores the role of the skeptic community in science communication and advocating for science education.
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Quick takeaways
Science denialism tactics used for climate change and evolution are similar, including portraying debates as unsettled and demonizing opponents.
Climate change denial is more prevalent than evolution denial, with both driven by religious and political/economic ideologies.
Deep dives
NCSE Initiatives to Combat Misleading Legislation on Evolution and Climate Change
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has been actively involved in addressing legislation that bundles evolution and climate change, emphasizing a balanced teaching approach. Despite challenges, concerned citizens have successfully rallied against flawed bills by engaging in advocacy efforts. The NCSE's focus on climate change intensified after recording instances of teachers facing resistance from students and parents regarding climate science education, prompting the initiative to support educators in navigating such controversies.
Expanding NCSE's Focus to Include Climate Change Education
With a growing recognition of the importance of addressing climate change denialism in education, the NCSE has expanded its scope to include resources and support for teachers handling climate science topics. The initiative stems from observations of educators facing challenges related to teaching climate change, indicating a need for guidance and assistance in navigating the political pressures surrounding the topic, similar to the support provided for teaching evolution.
NCSE's Approach: Providing Expert Guidance on Science Education
The NCSE's approach in promoting sound science education involves aligning with scientific consensus and offering support to teachers in presenting accurate scientific information. By adhering to established scientific principles and expert guidance, the NCSE aims to equip educators with the necessary tools to effectively address topics such as evolution and climate change in line with scientific understanding.
Engaging in Public Discourse and Advocacy for Science Education
Through public engagements like debates and discussions, the NCSE underscores the importance of fostering understanding and acceptance of scientific principles. By emphasizing the need for respectful dialogue and likability in communication, the organization aims to influence public perception and policy decisions related to scientific topics like evolution and climate change. Collaboration with other organizations and ongoing efforts to counter misinformation play a vital role in advancing science literacy and critical thinking.
Our guest Eugenie C. Scott joins us to talk about a new initiative of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) to tackle denialism of global warming. Both evolution and global warming are “controversial issues” in the public sphere, but are not controversial in the world of science. There is some overlap between the two issues, but far more people are climate change deniers than evolution deniers. What is interesting to skeptics, however, is the similarity in the techniques that are used by both camps to promote their views. The scientific issues are presented as “not being settled,” or that there is considerable debate among scientists over the validity of claims.
Evolution and global warming opponents also demonize the opposition by accusing them of fraud or other wrong-doing. Denialists in both camps practice “anomaly mongering,” in which a small detail seemingly incompatible with either evolution or global warming is considered to undermine either evolution or climate science. Although in both cases, reputable, established science is under attack for ideological reasons, the underlying ideology differs: for creationism, the ideology of course is religious; for global warming, the ideology is political and/or economic.
Dr. Eugenie C. Scott is Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, and sits on the Board of Advisors for the New York City Skeptics. She has written extensively on the evolution-creationism controversy and is past president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Scott is the 2010 recipient of the National Academy of Science's Public Welfare Medal. She is the author of "Evolution vs Creationism" and co-editor, with Glenn Branch, of "Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools."
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