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War On Science, or Facts Matter
Dec. 16th, 2010 10:02 amI did mention that this week has been a target-rich environment for blogging. Here's another target - how the Republican Party broke up with science. Again from the helpful blog Obsidian Wings, this article looks at data which show that only 6% of scientists identify as Republican, while 23% of the general public does.
The question is why, and the author's hypothesis is that, starting in the late 1970s, science started to get in the way of making money. Essentially, scientists from Rachel Carson to whoever discovered the hole in the ozone layer were showing that Man was adversely affecting the global environment. Later discoveries, such as global warming, merely added to the conflict.
Forced (falsely, I believe) to chose between Science and Business, the Republican Party chose Business. This ended up forcing the party to reject facts.
Scientists live by facts. Facts matter.
The thing about facts is they just are. They are neither good nor bad, they don't care if we believe or not, and they exist whether we acknowledge them or not.
The question is why, and the author's hypothesis is that, starting in the late 1970s, science started to get in the way of making money. Essentially, scientists from Rachel Carson to whoever discovered the hole in the ozone layer were showing that Man was adversely affecting the global environment. Later discoveries, such as global warming, merely added to the conflict.
Forced (falsely, I believe) to chose between Science and Business, the Republican Party chose Business. This ended up forcing the party to reject facts.
Scientists live by facts. Facts matter.
The thing about facts is they just are. They are neither good nor bad, they don't care if we believe or not, and they exist whether we acknowledge them or not.
