[T]his past Friday, [Bill] Maher repeated a claim he often makes that was finally smacked down by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Namely, Maher said that conservatives are consistently more anti-science than liberals. That’s bullshit…. “Let’s not pretend that Democrats and Republicans equally deny science,” Maher said. But TV-scientist and friend of the show Neil DeGrasse Tyson quickly stepped in to correct Maher…. “Don’t be too high and mighty there,” Tyson said. “Because there are certain aspects of science denials that are squarely in the liberal left.”…. Tyson went on to explain that liberals also tend to be the ones who consistently scare people about what they believe are the dangers of genetically modified organisms. He also rightly pointed out that liberals tend to be big believers in “alternative medicine.”
I’m not one to readily defend the sometimes ill-informed musings of Conservatives, who too often cling to beliefs with no credible scientific basis. That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t cop to the reality that there’s much Liberals have to answer for as well.
Maher, f’rinstance, believes vaccines cause autism. They don’t. Liberals been the ones leading the charge in the fight against genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They don’t; an analysis done by the Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has determined GMOs to be safe for human consumption has done nothing to silence those convinced otherwise.
Liberals are also big advocates for “alternative medicine,” much of which is total, unadulterated, and in some cases very dangerous bullshit.
Whether Liberal or Conservative, science doesn’t care what you believe. It doesn’t care about your sincerely-held religious beliefs, your pet agenda, or what you “know” to be true. Science doesn’t bend to anyone’s will…because science just is. Regardless of what you believe or want to be true, science remains empirical- provable, demonstrable, and repeatable. If science went by “Honey Badger,” it still wouldn’t give a &$#@.
Anti-science Republicans really do need to pull their heads out of their asses. Climate change is real. The Earth isn’t 10,000 years old. Noah’s Ark is, at best, a good children’s story.
But liberals need to clean up their own house before they make blanket assertions about conservatives being the only anti-science assholes out there. And since Maher attests to being such a champion of rational thought, he really needs to wake up to the mountains of bullshit in his own backyard. The smell bleeds through my TV set every time he says the word “frankenfood” like a toddler who just learned a new curse word.
I vehemently disagree that when it comes to science denial, Liberals are just as guilty as Conservatives…though I certainly won’t dispute that there are copious amounts of ignorance emanating from both camps.
Climate change is real. Vaccines don’t cause autism. GMOs aren’t “frankenfood.” “Alternative medicine” isn’t an equally viable and effective alternative to conventional medicine. Prayer won’t cure little Johnny’s glioblastoma. That there are those- in some cases very intelligent, well-credentialed bipeds- willing to deny solid scientific evidence simply because it doesn’t mesh with their pet agenda is as absurd as it is frightening and dangerous.
I never cease to marvel- at those who decry science as the domain of “Liberal elitists,” and at well-educated, normally lucid folks who deny science because it doesn’t mesh with their tightly-held irrational convictions. Then again, science doesn’t care what those who don’t recognize scientific fact think…because it will just keep on keeping on, proving what can be demonstrated and replicated.
The problem, as John Cleese once described it, is that stupid people are too often too stupid to recognize and understand that they are, in fact, stupid. Unfortunately, stupidity very often has nothing to do with education level or ideology. It has everything to do with the willingness to believe only what matches your narrow, self-interested prejudice.
Denying science doesn’t ipso facto render that science invalid or inaccurate. Science doesn’t care…because it doesn’t have to.
