Michael Specter: The danger of science denial

This is a subject near and dear to Maven’s heart. Each time I hear one of the climate change deniers, or in the most recent case - Rush Limbaugh claiming that the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t - I wonder just how much further American’s can take science denial before we go critical as a nation.

I love Specter:

“We don’t like Big Pharma … so we run away from it and leap into the arms of Big Placebo”

Vaccine-autism claims, “Frankenfood” bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public’s growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

Michael Specter is a staff writer for the New Yorker. His new book, Denialism, asks why we have increasingly begun to fear scientific advances instead of embracing them.

As he quotes H. L. Mencken:

“You’re entited to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts”