{"id":302191,"date":"2024-02-16T17:58:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T16:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=302191"},"modified":"2024-02-16T17:58:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T16:58:53","slug":"academics-blame-lower-trust-in-scientists-on-everything-but-bad-scientists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=302191","title":{"rendered":"Academics Blame Lower Trust In Scientists On Everything But Bad Scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reposted from William M Briggs\u2019s Substack\u00a0Science Is Not The Answer<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second sentence of the abstract of a new paper about trust in scientists, which is generally high but in some places low, provides the very reason for distrust: \u201cPublic trust in science can help decision-makers act based on the best available evidence, especially during crises such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClimate change\u201d is not a crisis, and it is absurd for scientists to claim it is. The covid panic<\/em> was. But only because scientists in the name of Science first created the damned bug, and then repeatedly botched its \u201csolutions\u201d. What rulers and Experts did to the body politic in the name of Science would make a San Francisco bathhouse habitu\u00e9 blush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, trust in scientists<\/em>, they say, and not in Science<\/em>. An interesting and important distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper is \u201cTrust in scientists and their role in society across 67 countries<\/a>\u201d by Viktoria Cologna, Naomi Oreskes, whom we have met several times<\/a>, and a legion of others. We have met, and have not enjoyed meeting, Oreskes many times before.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the abstract, the paper itself begins in a bizarre way: \u201cPublic trust in science provides many benefits to people and society at large.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes and no. Sometimes the fruits of science provide benefits, true, but sometimes they provide harms; e.g., gain-of-lethality research and nuclear bombs. Perhaps the net, at least at the date of this writing, is a benefit, but this is unclear. To be clear we\u2019d have to have an agreed upon definition of The Good. We would have to know the purpose and meaning of life, and how our toys and machines fit into this scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is not the purview of science. And which, in our decaying culture, our Experts, elites and rulers never discuss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is important because this paper, as in most minds, production of tools and toys are conflated with science. Science is the understanding of the nature of world. Controlling<\/em> the world via this understanding is not science, but something else. Confusing the two leads to scientism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now this paper is a mess, and there is no point taking it too seriously. The ambiguity of translating the questions asked, the state and history of country-level science education and production, culture itself, and things like this mean that absolute numbers cannot be used or compared with anything close to certainty. For instance, a picture (their Fig. 1) shows Egypt (!) and India far outpacing other countries in scientist trust. Japan and Russia are near the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the authors say things like this: \u201cSocieties with high public trust in science dealt with the COVID19 pandemic more effectively, as citizens were more likely to comply with non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 interventions and had higher vaccine confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No they didn\u2019t. The USA, which Followed The Science, had one of the highest crap-out rates. Sweden, which did not, did much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who really knows, though, because countries reported numbers with different levels of assiduity. Complying with idiotic and vain \u201cnon-pharmaceutical\u201d \u201cinterventions\u201d is a definite strike against trusting scientists. Follow the arrows on the floor or die! Wear a mask standing but not sitting or die! Break the 6 foot barrier and die!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck me as bizarre was this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Trust is significantly associated with attitudes towards science. We find positive relationships between people\u2019s trust in scientists and their willingness to rely on scientific advice and thus make themselves vulnerable to scientists, the belief that science benefits people like them, and trust in scientific methods.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Make themselves vulnerable to scientists.<\/em> Drips with effeminacy and toxic femininity. Same kind of stuff you see from synodalians listening and accompanying us on our spiritual journey together. Mental sugar poisoning. Vulnerable to scientists forsooth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

We also find that science-related populist attitudes\u2014that is, beliefs that people\u2019s common sense is superior to the expertise of scientists and scientific institutions\u2014are associated with lower trust in scientists.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where the scientism really creeps in. Knowing how the world works does not, in any way, tell us the best<\/em> and worst<\/em> ways of manipulating the world. Ordinary people can often tell when they are being shafted by Vlad The Scientist Impaler. Their commonsense solutions can work better than scientist \u201csolutions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mistake the paper makes is assuming scientists\u2019 expertise is always better than people\u2019s. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But never always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of the scientist whose bright idea it was to put lithium in water supplies<\/a> to calm the indigenous populants\u2014and make them love scientists more? Or the scientist who wants to\u2014and I swear this is true\u2014shrink people<\/a> to make war on \u201cclimate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists, even PhD-bearing mathematical prodigies, can be stupid. Because of DIE and the work, that stupidity on public display increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe or donate to support this site and its wholly independent host using credit card click here<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. Or use the paid subscription at Substack. Cash App: $WilliamMBriggs. For Zelle, use my email: matt@wmbriggs.com, and please include yours so I know who to thank.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to Science Is Not The Answer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By William M Briggs \u00b7 Launched 2 years ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The philosophy of science and scientism, and putting uncertainty in its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The second sentence of the abstract of a new paper about trust in scientists, which is generally high but in some places low, provides the very reason for distrust: \u201cPublic trust in science can help decision-makers act based on the best available evidence, especially during crises such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":302193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The second sentence of the abstract of a new paper about trust in scientists, which is generally high but in some places low, provides the very reason for distrust: \u201cPublic trust in science can help decision-makers act based on the best available evidence","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691821564,691818256,691826964],"class_list":{"0":"post-302191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-control","10":"tag-covid-19","11":"tag-trust-in-scientists","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0a0ff7053-back-to-the-future.webp?fit=1862%2C1048&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1gC3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":208515,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=208515","url_meta":{"origin":302191,"position":0},"title":"Trust Me, I\u2019m a Scientist. Really?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh, the Irony!\u00a0 A 2015 cartoon where a vaccine scientist is miffed at incredibility displayed by climate scientists. Dennis Prager explains why these days citizens have lost trust in scientists of all stripes.\u00a0 His American Greatness article is\u00a0You\u2019re a Scientist? So What?\u00a0\u00a0Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0cbe1007cd.jpg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0cbe1007cd.jpg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0cbe1007cd.jpg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0cbe1007cd.jpg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0cbe1007cd.jpg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":249346,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=249346","url_meta":{"origin":302191,"position":1},"title":"Nature discovers that political endorsements reduce their scientific credibility","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"24\/03\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When the formerly esteemed journal\u00a0Nature\u00a0endorsed one side of politics in 2020, apparently it didn\u2019t change any votes, but about a third of Trump supporters decided the science it published was politically biased too.\u00a0 The loss of trust in\u00a0Nature\u00a0was so strong that it tarnished the whole field of US science. (Zhang\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1002.png?fit=1200%2C1176&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1002.png?fit=1200%2C1176&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1002.png?fit=1200%2C1176&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1002.png?fit=1200%2C1176&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1002.png?fit=1200%2C1176&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":278740,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278740","url_meta":{"origin":302191,"position":2},"title":"More Rending of Garments from \u201cAcademia\u201d or Why\u2026Why Won\u2019t those Troglodytes Trust Us?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In the long tradition of Lewandowsky (who warrants an entire category listing on this site), Cook, Oreskes, and more, we have a new entry into the well-worn genre of trying to understand the uneducated knuckle dragging savages known colloquially as \u201cClimate Deniers.\u201d, and how to \u201ccommunicate\u201d with them.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Communications\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Communications","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-communications"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-434.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-434.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-434.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-434.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-434.png?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":425839,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425839","url_meta":{"origin":302191,"position":3},"title":"When It Comes to Climate and Energy, Let\u2019s Retire the Politics of Fear","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In the latest example of the scare tactics favored by climate change alarmists, it was announced last month that 2025 \u201cwas the third-warmest in modern history, according to Copernicus, the European Union\u2019s climate change monitoring service,\u201d as reported by NBC News.","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Admin\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Admin","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-admin"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOF_ohQZXY98nJIOi91TiAO7Fg1OeqhNh4VT631Ocx8Jp-rOKuLn5BQ6pI2UjW8nAT6qmom_gCpspDR9v32L1RL86hiRhMilI9H-GzKbPpxNrLOgd48VisOMgS0Tdgh.jpeg?fit=1026%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOF_ohQZXY98nJIOi91TiAO7Fg1OeqhNh4VT631Ocx8Jp-rOKuLn5BQ6pI2UjW8nAT6qmom_gCpspDR9v32L1RL86hiRhMilI9H-GzKbPpxNrLOgd48VisOMgS0Tdgh.jpeg?fit=1026%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOF_ohQZXY98nJIOi91TiAO7Fg1OeqhNh4VT631Ocx8Jp-rOKuLn5BQ6pI2UjW8nAT6qmom_gCpspDR9v32L1RL86hiRhMilI9H-GzKbPpxNrLOgd48VisOMgS0Tdgh.jpeg?fit=1026%2C941&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOF_ohQZXY98nJIOi91TiAO7Fg1OeqhNh4VT631Ocx8Jp-rOKuLn5BQ6pI2UjW8nAT6qmom_gCpspDR9v32L1RL86hiRhMilI9H-GzKbPpxNrLOgd48VisOMgS0Tdgh.jpeg?fit=1026%2C941&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288086,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288086","url_meta":{"origin":302191,"position":4},"title":"A bad recipe for science","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From Climate Etc. by Judith Curry Politically-motivated manufacture of scientific consensus corrupts the scientific process and leads to poor policy decisions An essay with excerpts from my new book Climate Uncertainty and Risk. 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Small changes in, for example, extreme rainfall or storms, are not discernible above the noise of natural changes in the weather.","rel":"","context":"In \"climate alarmism\"","block_context":{"text":"climate alarmism","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00nasa_viz_model_proj.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00nasa_viz_model_proj.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00nasa_viz_model_proj.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00nasa_viz_model_proj.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00nasa_viz_model_proj.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302191"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302197,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302191\/revisions\/302197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/302193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}