• Science

  Those with the least understanding of science oppose it the most

  Posted by ngarayeva001 on July 31, 2019 at 9:29 am

  I found this article on NY Times and thought it’s also true in the world of skincare.

  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/upshot/health-facts-importance-persuasion.html?fbclid=IwAR31Xp_1D7RXfrTeyKOYky_JB8KxZXqdDid0m82cetYdQ-v2NRauRHgwus0
   
  Those with the least understanding of science oppose it the most and also think they know the most, a study showed.
  

  In a paper published early this year in Nature Human Behavior, scientists asked 500 Americans what they thought about foods that contained genetically modified organisms.

  The vast majority, more than 90 percent, opposed their use. This belief is in conflict with the consensus of scientists. Almost 90 percent of them believe G.M.O.s are safe — and can be of great benefit.

  The second finding of the study was more eye-opening. Those who were most opposed to genetically modified foods believed they were the most knowledgeable about this issue, yet scored the lowest on actual tests of scientific knowledge.

  In other words, those with the least understanding of science had the most science-opposed views, but thought they knew the most. Lest anyone think this is only an American phenomenon, the study was also conducted in France and Germany, with similar results.

  Probably this is the very reason why I can’t explain even to some of my close friends that parabens are not dangerous and “natural” skincare is not better. They ignore my knowledge of the topic and obviously don’t bother reading scientific articles that I provide as a proof of my words.

  Sibech replied 5 years, 3 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

• 

  Sibech

  Member

  July 31, 2019 at 3:15 pm

  Well, that is part of it, another thing is the “backfire effect”(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11109-010-9112-2) which essentially is the tendency to increase belief in your current incorrect understanding when shown facts disagreeing with your bias.

  Granted this study related to political opinions, but the tendency persists.

  pdf can be found here: http://www.uky.edu/AS/PoliSci/Peffley/pdf/nyhan-reifler%202007%20When%20Predictions%20Fail.pdf

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