So of course I had to wear my Science shirt and show my support of science. Then as it happened I was at the gym listening to "The Skeptics Guide to the Universe" podcast when they referenced a paper on understanding Science Acceptance and Rejection. I dug the paper out and it was quite interesting and I thought worth sharing especially as this nation seems to be taking a step backwards on the science front in some cases.
SCIENCE FTW!
On one side of the spectrum we all have doubts or questions about many topics especially when it is something we are seeing for the first time or have little personal experience with. On the other side of the coin we have science as a methodology to answer those questions and either confirm or deny our doubts. But the question is why do these doubts stay with some of us no matter what anybody says while others are willing to change their minds based on sound scientific results. In other words Why do some people readily accept science and other's reject it? It is a good question and one that in my opinion is relevant. STEM jobs continue to grow (10. 5% from 2009 - 2015) and will we need our younger generations ready to step into these jobs in the future. If you are interested in more STEM job info for the US this is nice resource.
US Bureau of Labor STEM info
So if we are looking at a trend of more STEM type jobs being added and needed, it is important to understand why people do or not believe in science. A group of scientists decided to answer this tough question and published a nice article on the subject.
The journal article can be found here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0146167217741314
It is quite long and detailed so I am going to try and give the cliff notes.
THE CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS
When looking at the science acceptance or rejection question, the authors picked several controversial scientific topics to understand why people agree or disagree with the science on each topic.
1. Climate Skepticism
We hear lots of chatter on this one with the two sides firmly entrenched. One side says climate change is real and things are going to get worse if we don't take some measures soon. The other side does not believe climate change is real and that we are just in a natural pattern.
2. Vaccine Skepticism
Vaccines are another hot topic with the "anti-vaxxers" saying vaccines cause other problems like autism even though the science says otherwise. Some parents say that no one should be able to make them vaccinate their kids. On the flip side we have seen outbreaks endangering other people at places like Walt Disney World from these decisions. There is also plenty of science available showing vaccines are a good.
3. GM skepticism
This one is a daily conversation for me since my job is all about making GMOs. The biggest concern to the people who do not accept GMOs revolves around their belief that GMOs are unsafe. On the science side there are more studies than you could read in a day to support their safety.
4. Science Support
Science Support has been in the news lately as well. The march for science was a big even to support science, but there are just as people who think science conflicts with their personal beliefs.
THE PREDICTORS - TRUST vs DISTRUST OF SCIENCE
The overall findings of the paper linked each of these topics to WHY people do not accept or believe in them. The parameter they looked at to understand science denial or acceptance were:
1. Political conservatism
One thing they say never bring up in a conversation is politics, but it can play a big factor in what we believe. This paper was focused on a US population.
2. Religion
Well the saying actually goes don't talk about politics or religion and here we are bringing both into the equation. However there are times science and religion seem to conflict with other and so it is no surprise that religion can play a large role in peoples trust or distrust of science.
3. Morals
Our morals and values are who we are. Those values are embedded in us by our life experiences and beliefs. Morals speak strongly to our consciousness of what is right and wrong. These do not easily change and thus it also makes sense these influence what we believe and how we process information.
4. Faith in science
Is the scientific method inherently a good system you can trust.
5. Scientific literacy
Science is a word most people have heard, but understanding what it is saying can be challenge. It may be we don't understand what the science is saying because we don't want to hear it, we don't believe it, we haven't taken the time to study it, or we just have not been informed due to lack of communication or availability.
THE RESULTS
A lot of work went into the below graph, but this is the summary of all the work.
What does this mean? The interesting thing is that even though science attempts to explain every controversial topic here, the topics can be quite unique in the predictors that determine whether we believe the science or not.
There are several conclusions we can draw:
1. Climate skepticism - Where we fall on the climate debate is almost completely explained by our political attachment. Usually the more conservative a person is the higher the predictor for climate skepticism.
2. Vaccine skepticism - The best predictor of whether someone believes in vaccines is their religiosity. However other factors also help predict including faith in science (which can also be predicted by religiosity), morals , and scientific literacy.
3. GM skepticism - Scientific literacy and faith in science is a big predictor of GMO support or not.
4. Support of Science - The biggest predictor in whether someone supports science or not is their religiosity. One interesting finding is that men have more faith in science than women.
All of this mean science acceptance and rejection is a complicated topic. As the authors state, "different forms of science acceptance and rejection have different ideological roots, although the case could be made that these are generally grounded in conservatism."
PERSONAL VIEWS AND GOING FORWARD
I personally really like this study and find some positives and frustrations. On the subject of climate change which I do personally believe in, it seems that politics will continue to drive or not drive peoples thoughts and actions on climate decisions. The study is pretty spot on with what we are truly seeing play out with the current US administration not believing in climate change. This is the type of headlines we see in today's news under the current administration (NY times)
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| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/climate/epa-climate-change.html |
However this topic will bounce back and forth depending on the political side in charge. This one is a bit frustrating in that according to the results scientific literacy is not a driver of scientific acceptance and so education is not really going to have a huge impact on changing minds.
The good news is that GMO skepticism is highly predicted by scientific literacy. The more someone understands the science, the more they are willing they are to understand and adopt GMOs. This means that outreach by scientists, universities, governments, industries, and consumers on the benefits and safety of GMOs can have an impact. The science on GMOs is beautiful, but unfortunately people are not getting the information. This study highlights the need to tackle this topic head on through education. We have to keep educating and answering questions. I have numerous posts on GMOs on this blog if anyone reading this has questions and am always happy to answer or find the answer to any question someone wants to ask. As always a great resource is https://gmoanswers.com/
Religiosity is the biggest predictor of vaccine skepticism. I personally do not understand the reluctance to vaccinate because by not doing so puts not just one person in jeopardy but all the people around you. This is a topic that can have a lot of consequences for others. And I have this stance as a religious person. From a Christian point of view Scripture is silent on vaccinations and so we must make our own informed decision. I personally believe the science on this one and will vaccinate myself and my kids.
Lastly support of science is also highly predicted by religiosity. As I mentioned I am religious and I personally co-exist with a strong belief in science. Because I am a scientist I agree that there are conflicts of interest between science and religion. However I have never found that the two cannot co-exist for me. I and friends have had friendly debates on this topic so many times and my argument continues to be that science and religion are answering different questions. Religion is answering fundamental existence questions that science cannot (at least yet) about the universe such what is my purpose? who am I? how should I live and treat others? what happens when I die? Science is answering questions about the processes and properties of the universe to make our day to day lives better. They both are useful in my life.
I can only hope that all sides see the benefits of science. No matter your religious or political affiliation I hope we all see the good that science can do in our world. Science is not just an opinion, but a systematic method to to answer a question.
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