Pair of conservative science authors on C-Span 2 (Book TV), on now

[We People]

Last edited Sat Oct 20, 2012, 09:18 PM - Edit history (1)

"Science Left Behind: Feel-Good Fallacies and the Rise of the Anti-Scientific Left" by Alex Berezow (editor of RealClearScience), speaking with his co-author, Kenneth Green, at the AEI think tank - dated 10-10-12

Just happened to tune in. Apparently he's describing trying to prove that "The Left" doesn't like energy of any kind, fracking, GMO's, etc. However, he just stated that he intends to talk about President Obama's involvement or policy regarding science. I wonder how that will stack up with Bush II's record.

The audience appears to consist of scientists, some of whom are challenging whether his ideology is trumping science. Some in audience are interested in discussing the politicization of science. One person's mic was cut off for asking too many questions, but he protested that his question hadn't been answered.

This presentation is available at http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/308724-1

Book Reviews:
Amazon: 3-1/2 stars with 15 user reviews, 1/2 of which were negative

Reviewed elsewhere at http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alex-b-berezow/science-left-behind/#review

(Sorry, not sure where this thread should have been posted)

[LeftishBrit]

1. Well. There's a grain of truth; some leftists are anti-science. But so are lots of people who aren't

leftists.

On the whole, the Right seems to me to be far more anti-science. Global warming denialism; opposition to stem cell research; insistence on health policies based on religion rather than science; creationism - all of these are right-wing rather than left-wing attitudes. Even the more moderate Right, who may not hold all these views, are often impatient with science as something that costs money, requires long-term investment, and does not come up quickly with simplistic solutions - unappealing to the 'fiscal conservative' with a desire for 'efficiency'.

And many of the antiscientific theories that get ascribed to 'the left', such as being anti-vaccine, are not restricted to the left. In fact, while some leftists are suspicious of vaccination, the strongest opposition has tended to come from right-wingers: in the UK, the Daily Mail and other tabloids; elsewhere the religious right-wingers of a variety of faiths, and the anti-government nuts. The form that anti-vaccination takes tends to differ between leftists and rightists: leftists tend to base it on a suspicion of 'big Pharma' and rightists on a suspicion of 'big government'. However, what infuriates me about some anti-vaccination leftists is not so much the view itself - much as I disagree with it and even consider it dangerous - but the fact that they are willing to team up with anti-vaccination rightists, and to quote the right-libertarian, anti-government, anti-healthcare views of the likes of Ron Paul, Mercola, etc. There should be a vaccination against right-wing ideology!

[TZ]

2. I slightly disagree with you

There is tons of anti-science on the left, if different from the right wing stuff. Anti-vaxx. Western Meds Big Pharma conspiracy, anti-GMO, anti biotech is almost exclusive to the left in my experience. Bill Mahr after all is a "leftist" and he pushes so much of this shit.
I find basically that anti-intellectualism/ scientific illiteracy is common in mainstream society and not at all attached to one political stripe or another. The forms they take, however do tend to vary based on politics.We also have new age homeopathic bullshit that tends to be confined to the left. If you want to see how much leftist anti-science bullshit there is you only have to read Huffington Post!

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. There's plenty of that stuff on the right too

The racist British National Party is anti-GM food, Alex Jones claims all kinds of conspiracies in that area, naturalnews.com is far right wing (sample: "10 urgent preparations for possible riots after the Presidential election&quot , the Tory British Health Secretary believes in homoeopathy - the keenest supporter of alternative medicine in the UK parliament is a Tory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Tredinnick_%28politician%29#Support_for_complementary_and_alternative_medicine ...

You're right that "anti-intellectualism/ scientific illiteracy is common in mainstream society", but that contradicts what you said just before that - "Anti-vaxx. Western Meds Big Pharma conspiracy, anti-GMO, anti biotech is almost exclusive to the left". There is BS talked on the biological side of woo by the left, but the right is just as bad about it.

[TZ]

4. True enough

Its just that with the people I've met, its a very clear split left/right on what type of scientific bashing they believe in. (Don't forget the anti-nuke stuff that is almost always irrationally based)

[LeftishBrit]

5. Possibly there is a cultural/national difference here?

In the UK, although certainly there are some left-wingers who are anti-science, there are probably rather more right-wingers who are, and this applies to a wide variety of subjects. I would say that anti-vaccination here is more a preserve of the right than the left, as are some other forms of medical paranoia. Left-wingers can be paranoid on these issues too, especially those who seek to be environmentalists without much real knowledge about environmental issues - but right-wingers are usually much worse. Possibly this is because we do have (so far!) an NHS in the UK, so that healthcare paranoia is more linked to a suspicion of government provision.

Possibly our two worst anti-science MPs are David Tredinnick and Nadine Dorries. Both very much Tories. Of the two Tredinnick is probably the nuttiest and Dorries the nastiest:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/26/conservatives-health-select-committee