Science & Technology

Suzanne Goldenberg in the Guardian: “Creationism, climate denial and anti-vaccination rage: long before the measles outbreak in the US, a deep mistrust of scientists infected some strands of the American conservative movement.”

“There is the deep resentment of government. And a fierce concern for family privacy. More and more conservatives have a strong libertarian streak. But the aversion to vaccinating children – and the departure from mainstream thinking on public health and other issues – is not really a question of science, experts on the movement said. It’s about the clash between science and deeply held beliefs.”

“’As with any kind of science denial, it’s never the science itself. It’s these cultural fears,’ said Joshua Rosenau of the National Center for Science Education.”

“’One strand in all of this is definitely the growth within the Republican right of scepticism about scientists as authority figures,’ said Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology at Harvard. ‘They just don’t accept that scientists are public authority figures.’”

“It’s the Tea Party ideas of ‘don’t tread on me’ and total freedom  … Even if it carries a toll.”

Frank Bruni sees a larger problem arising from the increase in measles cases resulting from parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

“What’s in play is more than one affliction’s resurgence. The size and sway of the anti-vaccine movement reflect a chilling disregard for science — or at least a pick-and-choose, cafeteria approach to it — that’s also evident, for example, in many Americans’ refusal to recognize climate change. We’re a curious species, and sometimes a sad one, chasing knowledge only to deny it, making progress only to turn away from its benefits.”

“The movement underscores the robust market for pure conjecture — not just about vaccines, but about all sorts of ostensible threats and putative remedies — and the number of merchants willing to traffic in it.”

“The sheer variety and saturation of media today amplify crackpot hypotheses to a point where they seem misleadingly worthy of consideration. ‘People say things enough times, there must be some truth to it … Look at the proportion of people who question where our president was born or his religion.’”

“And we in the traditional media don’t always help, covering the news in an on-one-hand, on-the-other-hand fashion that sometimes gives nearly equal time to people citing facts and people weaving fiction.”