These 4 Factors Can Explain Why So Many People Are Rejecting Science

Summary

This article by Tessa Koumoundouros, writing for Science Alert, identifies the following four points:

1. A lack of trust in the information source is one of the key reasons people don't accept scientific information.
2. Many people want to identify with a cultural group—social media is good at spreading pseudoscience that looks like science and can be maniuplated to support groups' cultural beliefs.
3. The internal conflicts created by information that challenges our social or personal beliefs can lead to cognitive biases such as cognitive dissonance.
4. Scientific ideas need to be presented in a way that people can understand.

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• The Skeptics Dictionary (a pro-science view of the world). | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• DEC 2020 Understanding Why Some People Reject Science—Psychology Today
• JUL 2022 Understanding why people reject science could lead to solutions for rebuilding trust—The Conversation

Source Information:

• Article Source: Science Alert
• Media Check: Science Alert - Media Bias Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)
• RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC |