Being Stupid; It's Not Just For Republicans Any More
Hippies and Tea Baggers may not be so different.
Republicans are stupid, we all know that. It was current republican presidential front(ish)runner Booby Jindal who just two years ago proclaimed that they need to 'stop being the stupid party' if they want to remain relevant...and then kicked off his presidential campaign this week with a prayer rally hosted by an evangelical necromancer and biblical prophet who claims that she raises children from the dead and that god informs her of impending terrorist attacks.
It's easy to look at the political right and laugh. What, with the shit show of lies and manufactured outrage that poses as 'News' on Fox, how can you not kick back and have a chuckle at the farce of political theatre and right wing activism that gets the facts straight 10 percent of the time (and that's an improvement over the last survey!). So, yes, it's easy to laugh at pundits and politicos that deny climate science, deny evolution, lose their shit over Neil DeGrasse Tyson or clearly don't understand the basic physiology of the adult human female. Ha ha very funny, right? But what about you? What about all of your well intentioned, secular, bleeding heart liberal friends? What about the closely held beliefs of many on the left?
Clearly the political right is the party of science denialism, but the left is not immune (get it?) to it's share of looneys. Conspiracy theories and aliens, chemtrails and fluoridated water, new age 'energy' and crystal healing, myths about GMOs and organic food, misconceptions about nuclear energy, autism, astrology, gluten, accupuncture, homeopathy and of course, everyone's favorite topic du jour; immunizations.
A recent poll by the non partisan Pew Research Center found that, when it comes to issues of science and public policy, there are huge gaps between what scientists believe (you know, the people that actually study science?) and what the general public believe. And further, the study found that misconceptions about science had no correlation to any liberal-conservative split. In fact, scientists were found to often times take more traditionally conservative views. So much for your scientific/liberal bias conspiracy Fox News.
The poll looked at 13 different science/public policy issues ranging from GMOs, overpopulation and evolution to climate change, fracking and offshore drilling. In eight of 13 science-oriented issues, there was a 20-percentage-point or higher gap separating the opinions of the public and members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the foremost organizations for science and science education worldwide. So on important issues involving science, you, the general public, were a bunch of misinformed idiots well over half the time. This can be a problem in a democracy.
Some of the obvious cases of a misinformed or ignorant public stand out; only 50 percent of the general public believe that climate change is caused by human activity (gee, I wonder the political affiliations of the other 50%), compared to 87 percent of scientists (the figures for scientists are slightly different than past academic studies because of wording of the question according to Pew associate director Cary Funk).
"These are big and notable gaps," according to Lee Rainie, director of Pew's internet, science and technology research. He said they are "pretty powerful indicators of the public and the scientific community seeing the world differently."
A full 98 percent of scientists agree humans evolved over time, compared with 65 percent of the public. On the issue of immunizations the public was slightly more sane, with 68 percent in favor of childhood immunizations, compared to 86 percent of scientists, a mere 18 percent gap between the two groups. Where energy is concerned, scientists prefer nuclear power as an alternative to carbon sources, favor increased biofuel, favor offshore drilling and understand that the major problem we face is overpopulation.
The most dramatic difference, and far and away the largest gap between an idiotic, misinformed public and the people who actually know what they're talking about, came in the form of GMOs. Of course.
A full 88 percent of scientists said it is safe to eat genetically modified foods, while only 37 percent of the public say it is safe, representing a 51 percent gap between what hippies believe and what scientists who have actually studied science believe. Further, 67 percent of the opinionated public believe scientists are not clear on the health risks associated with eating GM crops, as opposed to 28 percent of the people who can actually do math. Another glaring gap. Follow that one up with a 40 percent gap when it comes to pesticides, with 68 percent of scientists believing pesticide use is safe for your health, compared to 28 percent of the public. Does anyone else find it ironic that hippies are so misinformed about health, food and nutrition?
So why the big difference between the public and the experts? And should this be cause for concern?
"On the whole, as compared to most members of the public, scientists are likely drawing from a larger scientific knowledge base — and thinking more scientifically — about each of these issues," according to an email from Edward Maibach, George Mason University communications professor. "Therefore, their views appear to be more in line with a completely dispassionate reading of the risks versus the benefits."
Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS, said the gap between the way the public and scientists look at issues is a cause for concern.
"Science is about facts; science is not about values," Leshner said. "Policies are made on facts and values and we want to make sure that the accurate, non-distorted facts are brought in to any kind of discussion." The trouble, according to scientists, is that the public simply does not know the facts. The survey said 84 percent of the scientists said it is a major problem that "the public does not know very much about science."
Okay, so is it all doom and gloom? Will the public just never understand science? Are scientists going to develop massive neck and vision problems from constantly having to shake their heads and roll their eyes? Will science and the public never see eye-to-eye? Not necessarily.
Despite differences in views about a range of science topics, both the public and scientists give relatively high marks to the nation’s scientific achievements. Both groups also gave distinctly lower marks to K-12 STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). A meager 16 percent of scientists and 29 percent of adults in the general public considers K-12 STEM education in the U.S. to be the best or above average compared with other industrialized countries. Both groups see U.S. scientific achievements and medical treatment in a more positive light, by comparison.
So what's the take home? Is the general public just a bunch of deluded dumbasses? Has anyone ever actually questioned that? Perhaps we all should.
So the next time you feel the urge to post that anti vax, anti GMO, new age energy, chemtrail, conspiracy theory article on your favorite social media outlet, ask yourself: Am I being a dumbass? Statistically speaking, 61.5 percent of the time the answer is yes.
