Science Denial

Below is one of the best TED Talks I've heard in quite some time.



The topic is the danger of science denial.

The presenter, Michael Specter, warns of the dangers of believing in lies, magic, and myth. In the face of scientific fact.

He makes some interesting points - humans live longer than ever before - thanks to technology. As he states, "A kid born in New Delhi can expect to live longer than the richest man in the world did 100 years ago."

How amazing is that?

Look at the disease science has wiped out, namely, Small Pox and Polio. All triumphs of the scientific method.

But what he is scared of is all the opposition to scientific progress. He doesn't say we don't have a right to be scared and skeptic. We have every right to be and we should be.

But never before in the world's history has there been so much opposition to progress. Look at our government now. We can't get on board to curb carbon emissions! We can't decide on which new energy source to focus on and innovate.

What would have happened had we thought that when Americans were horrified that Russia beat us into space with Sputnik or if we just shrugged at the horrors of Polio?

Specter makes a great point (and one that hits the nail on our society's head today). "You are entitled to your beliefs. But you are not entitled to your facts."

That's brilliant, for we live in a society where we can insulate ourselves in 'facts' - or different versions of facts - Michael Moore's facts or Rush Limbaugh's facts. Of course, those really aren't facts at all.

And any serious research will uncover that. But we rarely do the serious research. It's just easier to believe in what we want to believe.

"When you get proof, you need to accept the proof," Specter states. And he's right.

The best example is the study a number of years ago that was done linking Autism to vaccinations.

Tons of studies were done in the US, in Sweden, in Europe, in Canada. All the research came back stating "no correlation and no connection."

Yet, Jenny McCarthy can spout lies about Autism being caused by vaccinations on Oprah and Larry King. And thousands believe those lies.

I like this line - "We believe anecdotes. We believe what we see - what we think we see. What we makes us feel real. We don't believe a bunch of documents from a government official."

And that's true.

And that's why more parents than ever are not vaccinating their kids. Yes, as stupid as that is. That happens. But do we want Polio or Small Pox raging in our country again?

Why have we become so opposed to progress?

Maybe it's that the older we get (and the older our society gets) we fall victim to nostalgia. "Oh, it was so much better when we didn't have this or we didn't have that."

Well, the one thing we know about hindsight is that it's 20/20. We forget all the bad things. Or if we do remember them, we somehow romanticize them and forget how terrible they really were.

I sure don't want to see children today suffer polio the way people of my grandmother's generation did.

Let's remember how truly terrible the past was and let's realize how nice we have it today. Then let's hope we keep progressing and improving our way of life.