Saturday, May 24, 2014

Eugenie Scott: Déjà vu all over again - Denialism of Climate Change and of Evolution





Eugenie Scott: Déjà vu all over again - Denialism of Climate Change and of Evolution
Published on Feb 11, 2014

Both evolution and global warming are "controversial issues" in education, but are not controversial in the world of science. There is remarkable similarity in the techniques that are used by both camps to promote their views. The scientific issues are presented as "not being settled", or that there is considerable debate among scientists over the validity of claims. Both camps practice "anomaly mongering", in which a small detail, seemingly incompatible with either evolution or global warming, is held up as dispositive of either evolution or of climate science. Although in both cases, reputable, established science is under attack for ideological reasons, the underlying ideology differs: for denying evolution, the ideology of course is religious; for denying global warming, the ideology is political and/or economic. Eugenie Scott will deconstruct the arguments and identify the ideologies that hinder widespread understanding of evolution and responsiveness to climate change.

Eugenie Scott, PhD, Director, National Center for Science Education

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