2020 Medley #13 — Scientific Ignorance and American Anti-Intellectualism
A VACCINE FOR CONSPIRACY THEORIES
The internet has opened the door for Americans to gain wide-ranging expanded knowledge…but, as Isaac Asimov wrote, “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”With that expanded knowledge comes expanded falsehood…conspiracy theories. Teachers are tasked with teaching students how to read critically…to sift through massive amounts of information and learn how to tell truth from falsehood. The state of the nation today would indicate that we have failed. Conspiracy theories abound.
Take the current worldwide health crisis. According to conspiracy theories…
- the virus is spread by 5G towers,
- masks will starve your body of oxygen,
- Bill Gates is going to use the coronavirus vaccine to inject us with microchips,
- coronavirus is a Chinese bio-weapon
[For debunking information see Debunking COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories]
The National Center for Science Education a way to combat conspiracy theories with critical thinking…with the help of an acronym CONSPIR.
John Cook, a frequent NCSE collaborator who focuses on combating misconceptions, recently co-authored The Conspiracy Theory Handbook. During a recent conversation with Cook, he noted: “While we do not have a vaccine for COVID-19 at this time, we do have a vaccine for misinformation CONTINUE READING: 2020 Medley #13 — Scientific Ignorance and American Anti-Intellectualism | Live Long and Prosper
