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BOOK REVIEW: Reality Check: How Science Deniers Threaten Our Future
http://thedispersalofdarwin.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/book-review-reality-check-how-science-deniers-threaten-our-future/"...
The common theme here, and similarly with many of Protheros pieces for Skeptic, is that the public more often trusts celebrities or non-experts than scientists when it comes to scientific knowledge. McCarthy nor Meyer fully understand their subjects, yet one continues to speak out falsely about vaccines (and in so doing, some parents are not vaccinating their children, and this has unfortunate consequences) and the other publishes a book that many will see on a shelf and mistake for a proper book about science. Not knowing how to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience surely contributes to the general lack of science literacy in the United States, but it also speaks to the influence that politics, religion, fame, and money have on the public understanding of science (just think of The Discovery Channels recent show that made countless Americans believe that the giant prehistoric Megalodon shark still swam the seas or earlier in 2013, Animal Planets program on the existence of mermaids). Scientific topics which are influenced by nonscientific ideologies are the core of Protheros new book.
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The value I find in Reality Check is that Prothero brings together important scientific information along with descriptions of the groups of people that deny the scientific evidence for each topic. He counters each groups falsehoods and biases with accurate science, and provides useful resources. In the second chapter, Prothero discusses what science is (noting that it is never the final truth and clarifying for the reader what theory in science means). But he notes that science is also a human enterprise. Mistakes and errors happen; so does fraud. Yet such things get weeded out by the scientific process: science is checked against an external reality that other scientists can check. Experiments are checked for accuracy and the process of peer review keeps what is good and throws out that which is bad. Yet, nonscientific ideas persist in the public perception of what constitutes science. t is often hard to tell who is telling the truth, and who is just a shill for a powerful industry or political faction or religious group, Prothero writes.
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I particularly liked this sentence: Scientists are human, they are not perfect, and they can be misled by their own biases and ideologies, but in most cases, the harsh scrutiny of other scientists soon weeds out the bad data and gives us some basis on which to decide whether an idea has merit. Scientists are not immune to cultural forces, but by and large they are not openly ideological, either. However, perhaps Protheros disdain for religious conservatism (which is fine with me, by all means) paints a picture of the history of science that is less accurate than reality (or, this speaks to an unfortunate lack of history of science literacy). In his second chapter, Prothero rightly notes that [s]cience and technology have produced the practical benefits of our modern society, but continues erroneously with which were held back for the entire Dark Ages while religious dogma held thrall over the human mind. The lack of inquiry and knowledge through the Dark Ages is a notion not held by historians of science (see myth 2 in Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion, That the Medieval Christian Church Suppressed the Growth off Science).
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But why is this important? My children are exposed to all manner of science learning (some at school; but mostly through my parental initiative). Should I be concerned about what others kids and their parents are learning? The obvious answer is Yes. If someone pushes creationism in my sons school, that affects us. If someone does not vaccinate their kid and sends them to a public school, that might affect us. If children dont learn the importance of our environment and the effect our consumer lifestyle has on the planet, that will affect us all. So, for all those antievolutionists, anti-vaxxers, and anti-climate change advocates, the science is clear. Stop denying and get a reality check!
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This one is on my wish list.
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