Despite popular belief, the public is not at war with science. Individuals who are resistant to scientifically sound positions are not necessarily uninformed, uneducated or irrational.

In fact, Pew Research Center studies show that 67 percent of people believe science has positively impacted the world and that confidence in scientists has remained steady over the past 50 years.

While it is true that individuals that espouse anti-GMO or anti-vaccine positions often cite flawed scientific studies to support their claims, they are not being purposefully anti-science. Instead, the likely main motivator of this response is emotional; expressing a larger distrust of our society’s institutions and concern at the rapid pace of technological change. Instead, the scientific community needs to move beyond alienating rhetoric — like a “war on science” — and toward proactive engagement with the public.

Read more at the Davis Enterprise. 

 

Aiyana Emigh is a Ph.D. student of biophysics at UC Davis, vice president of the Biophysical Graduate Group and a member of the Biophysical Society.