There Is A Huge Increase In Anti-Science Sentiments And That Sucks

One of the more disappointing developments in recent years has been the strained relationship between scientists and the general public.

Both of my jobs share one thing in common; lots of people claim that money influences what I say. As a guitar journalist I am bombarded with people claiming that I’m bribed, biased, and tailoring reviews to benefit the brands that work with me. Likewise, a particular set of folks in the US believe that scientists are similarly biased, accepting big paychecks to publish “fake news” and push false narratives. Of course, both of these things are not true. Unfortunately, we as scientists (and content creators) have done a poor job initially combatting this disinformation.

The truth is, despite having a PhD, and a career in science that I’m very grateful for, my research and work isn’t swayed by money, nor is it pushing falsehoods on the American people. Recently, President Trump and DOGE have terminated many scientists and science support roles from federal agencies like NOAA, EPA, and NSF. While it remains to be seen how permanent these terminations are, it’s troubling that folks view these hardworking scientists as somehow taking advantage of the American taxpayer.

This argument is a core tenet of Trump’s pitch to frustrated Americans. We’re supposedly wasting all of our tax dollars fighting a battle against climate change that doesn’t exist. I want to take some time talk about science, and what it actually looks like versus the flawed description that many folks are pushing these days.

It’s All About The Evidence

Science only cares about one thing at its core and that is evidence. As scientists we collect data, measurements, and observations of all sorts of things. Maybe it is rising CO2 concentrations, the increased acidity of the ocean, or the decrease in fish populations. Whatever it is, we take the data, look at it over time and space, and then form a hypothesis on what we see. This isn’t a foreign concept, it’s just using some new words.

You’re basically doing the exact same thing when you watch your favorite sports team and begin to predict how the rest of their season will go. You look at numbers like goals scored, home runs hit, or shots made and then make conclusions about the team. Maybe they’re a super bowl contender, or maybe they suck. How is that different from science?

Well, much like with sports or even guitar gear, science works under the assumption that our conclusions can change over time as we accumulate more data or evidence. So as we learn more, we change our mind. Great example from sports, I thought Mac Jones would be an amazing quarterback for the Patriots after had a strong statistical rookie year. That ended up being wrong, as he regressed, performed poorly, and ultimately left the team. I looked at the evidence, made a conclusion, and then changed that conclusion when new evidence was presented. This is literally how science works.

So for folks who are always expecting science to give one finite answer, it is rarely going to be that straightforward.

COVID 19

In my professional opinion the pandemic really kicked a lot of the anti-science movement into high gear. There’s a few reasons for this, but a big one is that we were constantly learning more and evolving our rules, guidance, and approaches to handling the pandemic. Like I discussed above, we made conclusions, and then sometimes we changed them as we learned more. We did studies, we looked at trends, and we decided hey, masks actually really work! So does eating outside instead of inside. And once we developed vaccines, we found them to be massively effective at reducing the spread, risk, and consequences of infection. But it took time, effort, and some changes in direction to get there! That’s science.

Another big problem is that here in the US everyone values their freedom of choice above the good of their community. This is a core principle of the nation, one of self-determination! Unfortunately, we don’t live in isolated bubbles and all of our actions have consequences on the world around us. Americans must learn to understand this, especially during times of crisis.

Scientists don’t want to police you, or restrict you, or threaten your freedom. We want to keep you safe enough and alive long enough to actually use your right to self determination. If a bunch of you die in the pandemic, or lose your home during a hurricane, doesn’t that seem like it may complicate your ability to live “free”? There’s probably a more polite, eloquent way to say this, but scientists literally study diseases, climate change, floods, hurricanes, and chemical pollution with the sole intent of improving your life.

We want you to keep fishing, we want you to be able to eat those fish without risk of getting nasty chemicals into you that will then make you sick, cause you pain or suffering. We’re just trying to learn how we can protect our environment so that we can all still use it! We want to camp at beautiful parks, go on hikes, harvest fish from the river, just like all of you! But if we just let the world have a free for all, then there won’t be fish, or parks, or trees, or water left for any of us. It’s that simple. We look at the evidence, saw that some folks were abusing our resources, and made conclusions to try and conserve those resources.

Why in the world are we letting this man, with absolutely zero qualifications, run our country’s health? How is that different from hiring an accountant to fix your plumbing?

The “Ivory Tower” Concept

A very real and valid criticism of science and scientists is that they live in ivory towers, looking down on the rest of the world. In decades past, this has been more true than not. Bespectacled, wealthy professors struggled to communicate their work using plain language/without complex technical terms. Requiring you to refer to them as doctor or professor, in a practice of self idolization. And some did turn their nose up at the “uneducated” public. However, those days are long gone.

More and more scientists from my generation focus on explaining our work in general terms. We are often taught in school that if you can’t explain your work and its importance to your grandmother, than you are failing. Plus, neither me nor any of my friends from grad school refer to ourselves as doctor or suggest anyone refer to us as doctor.

And trust me, many of us are not particularly wealthy despite having the letters PhD at the end of our names. I can’t afford to own a home, I drive an almost ten year old Honda Civic, I still get yelled at by my girlfriend for buying iced coffee out of the house. I’m not looking down from an Ivory Tower. If all that corruption and wasteful spending that Trump touted was real, it clearly did not make its way to me or ANY of my peers and colleagues.

Scientists are not more important than other careers and jobs. We’re one thread of the tapestry that keeps the world running. Just like train conductors, plumbers, and chefs, we all serve a distinct purpose in our community. I trust my mechanic to take care of my car, I trust the postal service to deliver my mail, I trust an electrician to wire my apartment. So why not trust a scientist to protect the environment while you work on the important tasks that you accomplish?