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CRITIC AT LARGE

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M

ost people seek out experts for health and science

information they can trust. They appreciate that scien-

tists and physicians go through many years of school-

ing and intensive training to learn the intricacies associated

with their specialty. They see an MD or PhD as a reliability

indicator that distinguishes sound advice from nonsense or

potentially dangerous ideas.

But a number of individuals, especially an increasingly vocal

cadre of social media users, don’t always trust physicians and

scientists. Rather, they view them as elites and members of the

establishment. They are in bed with Big Pharma or spout alarmist

news to fund their research. Conspiracy theories circulate online

about mad scientists seeking to control the masses.

Flaunting one’s scientific credentials can do more harm than

good when engaging people who hold these beliefs. Initiating con-

versations from an authoritative position may feel natural to the

credentialed, but it can trigger a skeptical defense in some listen-

ers that obfuscates a productive exchange.

The knee-jerk response to people who doubt established

science or medicine is to dismiss their concerns as absurd:

trusting in expertise is common sense. If your computer isn’t

booting up, you don’t call the fire department. If your house

is on fire, you don’t call a computer technician. Logic dictates

that matters of science and health are best addressed by sci-

entists and physicians.

But as Voltaire observed, “Common sense is not so com-

mon.” The abundance of quackery and pseudoscience cur-

rently succeeding in the marketplace of ideas demonstrates

the human proclivity to reject the scientific method in favor

of unestablished, or even disreputable, goods and services.

The widespread resistance to vaccination against COVID-

or other infectious diseases, in some cases resulting in threats

Reaching a science skeptic is not a matter of credentials; it’s a matter of heart.

BY BILL SULLIVAN

Confronting Anti-Science Sentiment:

A Playbook