{"id":10640,"date":"2015-03-04T05:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcfbellemare.com\/wordpress\/?p=10640"},"modified":"2015-03-01T12:25:42","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T17:25:42","slug":"on-science-denialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcfbellemare.com\/wordpress\/10640","title":{"rendered":"On Science Denialism"},"content":{"rendered":"

[F]luoride is a natural mineral that, in the weak concentrations used in public drinking-water systems, hardens tooth enamel and prevents tooth decay\u2014a cheap and safe way to improve dental health for everyone, rich or poor, conscientious brushers or not. That\u2019s the scientific and medical consensus.<\/p>\n

To which some people in Portland, echoing anti-fluoridation activists around the world, reply: We don\u2019t believe you.<\/p>\n

We live in an age when all manner of scientific knowledge\u2014from the safety of fluoride and vaccines to the reality of climate change\u2014faces organized and often furious opposition. Empowered by their own sources of information and their own interpretations of research, doubters have declared war on the consensus of experts. There are so many of these controversies these days, you\u2019d think a diabolical agency had put something in the water to make people argumentative.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

From a longer essay<\/a> by Joel Achenbach in the Washington Post a few weeks ago. \u00a0And then there is the March 2015\u00a0issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science<\/em><\/a>, which is\u00a0on “The Politics of Science: Political Values and the Production, Communication, and Reception of Scientific Knowledge,” which features articles on the causes and consequences of science denialism.<\/p>\n

Bonus: This very nice blog post<\/a> titled “Should We Adopt GMOs?,” by Lauri Muranen. Excerpt:<\/p>\n

One of the first things I have noticed is that similar to other seemingly controversial issues, the debate on GMOs is often carried with convictions rather than facts and evidence. The situation is not helped by the rather vivid imagery used in the discussions \u2013 one of the most famous of them being the term “Frankenfoods.”<\/p>\n

In Mary Shelley\u2019s novel [Frankenstein<\/em>], the scientist Victor Frankenstein ventures to the reign of God by creating artificial life and thus can be interpreted as trying to act like one. Similarly GMOs are often portrayed as “Frankenfoods” by their opponents\u2013artificial monsters of the food world devised by mad scientists in their lairs of wicked genius. The irony is probably lost to many but Shelley wanted to highlight the irrational fears and ignorance of the mobs, rather than the dreadfulness of the monster itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ht: Wendy Rahn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[F]luoride is a natural mineral that, in the weak concentrations used in public drinking-water systems, hardens tooth enamel and prevents tooth decay\u2014a cheap and safe<\/p>\n

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