How Americans Came to Distrust Science
Few conservatives are questioning whether science as a methodology is good or bad. Some extreme Christians might doubt science itself, but I sense they are quite a small group. There is also a small group on the left which has rejected science (and often objective reality and reason) apparently in favor of a belief that everything is textual, socially constructed and about power dynamics.<p>Putting both of those wackadoodle groups aside, the core issue in America is a lack of trust between the major political camps. This lack of trust is unfortunately justified, as both camps often show a willingness to act in bad faith, to do &quot;whatever it takes&quot;, ignoring the long term effects (of erosion of trust in the institutions of society).<p>Dr Fauci said masks didn&#x27;t work in order to prevent a run on masks. Unfortunatly in the current environment the cost of that decision is very steep. The news media ran with the Russian Collusion narrative with far too much certainty. The cost of that decision, a near utter lack of trust from conservatives, is far too much. Lies about Hunter Biden&#x27;s laptop being Russian disinformation... a blatant revolving door between the CIA propagandists and the media... social media banning or automatically editoralizing many widespread conservative opinions... and more trust evaporates. Trust is easily squandered and hard to regain. A media telling folks to shelter indoors due to COVID-19, and then immediately praising street rioting exacerbated an already near utter collapse in trust.<p>If American conservatives refuse to believe that COVID-19 is serious, or that lockdowns can work, or that climate change is a serious issue... the American progressives need to take some large measure of responsibility for that. They taught them time and time again &quot;you cannot trust us&quot; while saying &quot;the most trusted source in news.&quot; Liberal&#x2F;progressive institutions shirked their societal duty to actually be fair, balanced, cautious, do investigative research, and for God&#x27;s sake to tell the truth rather than trying to manipulate votes.<p>The end does not justify the means, in no small part because few are bright enough to see the more complete set of ends.<p>To restore trust you must first start with respect. Allow the wingnut ideas to be spoken and spread. Put forth counternarratives and reasoned arugments rather than silencing &quot;misinformation&quot; (silencing alienates and drives deeper tribalism). Don&#x27;t fall into the trap of believing that arguments never convince anybody -- they don&#x27;t seem to because few people openly admit to being wrong or having been changed -- but they do have an effect. Respect the people while arguing the ideas. And that&#x27;s just the first step. If you can&#x27;t take this first step of showing respect by cherishing free speech again, America will just sink deeper into tribalism and all that it breeds.<p>Full disclosure: I write from New Zealand, consider myself classical liberal centrist and atheist, believe in lockdowns and socially distance, and take personal action to do my part to slow down climate change.