How conservatives lost their faith in science

[Gerald McGrew]

Study tracks how conservatives lost their faith in science

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012 ... in-science

An analysis of 36 years' worth of polling data indicates that confidence in science as an institution has steadily declined among Americans who consider themselves conservatives, while confidence levels have been at steadier levels for other ideological groups.

The study, published in the April issue of the American Sociological Review, provides fresh ammunition for those who complain that conservative views on issues such as climate change are at odds with the scientific consensus.

"You can see this distrust in science among conservatives reflected in the current Republican primary campaign," Gordon Gauchat, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Sheps Center for Health Services Research, said in a news release from the American Sociological Association. "When people want to define themselves as conservatives relative to moderates and liberals, you often hear them raising questions about the validity of global warming and evolution, and talking about how 'intellectual elites' and scientists don't necessarily have the whole truth."

Anti-science, anti-education, anti-intellectualism...but it stands to reason given that Republicans have been on the wrong side of every science-based issue for the last 35 years.

[MrJonno]

Conservatism has been about simple answers for simple people for long time, unfortunately life is a lot more complicated

[JimC]

I imagine there would be a strong strand of anti-Darwinism from the fundamentalist conservatives as part of the anti-science mix...

(though I am fully aware there are non-religious conservatives to whom this does not apply...)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

That says when, not how or why.

[pErvinalia]

Why, G? Coz they are simpletons. And they are driven by fear.

[Tyrannical]

I imagine there would be a strong strand of anti-Darwinism from the fundamentalist conservatives as part of the anti-science mix...

(though I am fully aware there are non-religious conservatives to whom this does not apply...)

Liberals are exactly known for being pro-Darwin, it's too un-politically correct.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Golden Fleece Awards helped fuel the decline of rationality in the conservatives.

[Tyrannical]

The Golden Fleece Awards helped fuel the decline of rationality in the conservatives.

I had a golden fleece, not as useful as you'd think. Cold and heavy.

[sifaka]

And excellent book on the subject: The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney.
A case by case presentation of how the conservatives (mostly the Bush administration) has tried to undermine the scientific community, to make the data suit their political goal.

[Gerald McGrew]

Darrell Issa (R-CA) convened a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on autism. It turned into this:

In a classic political move, the committee called on scientists Alan Guttmacher from the NIH and Colleen Boyle from the CDC to testify, but in fact the committee just wanted to bully the scientists. Committee members lectured the scientists, throwing out bad science claims, often disguised as questions, thick and fast. Alas, Guttmacher and Boyle weren’t prepared for this kind of rapid-fire assault by pseudoscience.

Burton himself was the worst offender, offering anecdotes and bad science with an air of authority. He stated bluntly:

“I’m convinced that the mercury in vaccinations is a contributing factor to neurological diseases such as autism.”...

...And Burton went off the deep end with this:

“It wasn’t so bad when a child gets one or two or three vaccines… Mercury accumulates in the brain until it has to be chelated.”

Burton also claimed that single-shot vials would “eliminate the possibilty of neurological damage from vaccines” – a claim that was invented out of thin air by the discredited anti-vax doctor Andrew Wakefield, whose fraudulent 1998 study was the spark that started the current wave of anti-vax hysteria.

Congressman Bill Posey from Florida was just as bad as Burton, demanding a study of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children, a standard talking point of the anti-vax movement. (Congressman Posey: do you even realize that your question is almost identical to what Jenny McCarthy asked five years ago, on the Larry King Live show?) Here’s his question to the CDC’s Boyle:

“I wonder if the CDC has conducted or facilitated a study comparing vaccinated children with unvaccinated children yet – have you done that?”

Dr. Boyle wasn’t prepared for this. She tried to point out that many studies have been done looking at the relation between vaccines and autism, but she didn’t get very far before interrupted, thus:

Rep. Posey: “So clearly, definitely, unequivocally, you have studied vaccinated versus unvaccinated?”

Dr. Boyle: “We have not studied vaccinated versus unvaccinated.”

Posey: “Never mind. Stop there. That was the meaning of my question. You wasted two minutes of my time.”

Our country is run by dullards.