Denialism

In this provocative and headline making book, Michael Specter confronts the widespread fear of science and its terrible toll on individuals and the planet In Denialism, New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter reveals that Americans have come to mistrust institutions and especially the institution of sciencetoday than ever before For centuries, the general view had been that science is neither good nor bad that it merely supplies information and that new information is always beneficial Now, science is viewed as a political constituency that isn t always in our best interest We live in a world where the leaders of African nations prefer to let their citizens starve to death rather than import genetically modified grains Childhood vaccines have proven to be the most effective public health measure in history, yet people march on Washington to protest their use In the United States a growing series of studies show that dietary supplements and natural cures have almost no value, and often cause harm We still spend billions of dollars on them In hundreds of the best universities in the world, laboratories are anonymous, unmarked, and surrounded by platoons of security guards such is the opposition to any research that includes experiments with animals And pharmaceutical companies that just forty years ago were perhaps the most visible symbol of our remarkable advance against disease have increasingly been seen as callous corporations propelled solely by avarice and greed As Michael Specter sees it, this amounts to a war against progress The issues may be complex but the choices are not Are we going to continue to embrace new technologies, along with acknowledging their limitations and threats, or are we ready to slink back into an era of magical thinking In Denialism, Specter makes an argument for a new Enlightenment, the revival of an approach to the physical world that was stunningly effective for hundreds of years What can be understood and reliably repeated by experiment is what nature regarded as true Now, at the time of mankind s greatest scientific advances and our greatest need for them that deal must be renewed. Best Download eBook Denialism Author Michael Specter – kino-fada.fr Over the last few years, I ve become increasingly interested in the gap between scientific and technological developments and the public perception of those developments In Denialism, journalist Michael Specter dives straight into this gap and makes a compelling argument that this problem is among the most dangerous we currently face.Specter does decent job of outlining where the gap between scientific data and popular myth comes from and why it seems to be growing In the middle part of the ce Over the last few years, I ve become increasingly interested in the gap between scientific and technological developments and the public perception of those developments In Denialism, journalist Michael Specter dives straight into this gap and makes a compelling argument that this problem is among the most dangerous we currently face.Specter does decent job of outlining where the gap between scientific data and popular myth comes from and why it seems to be growing In the middle part of the century, the authority of science, and our faith in its ability to cure our ills and improve our lives, was much stronger But as the population as a whole became less inclined to accept authority on its face, and people witnessed gross scientific missteps such as the Challenger explosion and the Vioxx disaster, public trust began to erode Specter opens his book with a detailed discussion of the Vioxx tragedy and the very reasonable ...I really wanted to like this book, especially since I agree with the author s premise that some segments of our society have developed a knee jerk distrust of all things scientific which is endangering lives, wasting money and distracting us from making scientific progress In Mr Specter s words, Denialism is denial writ large when an entire segment of society, often struggling with the trauma of change, turns away from reality in favor of acomfortable lie Mr Specter opens Denialism I really wanted to like this book, especially since I agree with the author s premise that some segments of our society have developed a knee jerk distrust of all things scientific which is endangering lives, wasting money and distracting us from making scientific progress In Mr Specter s words, Denialism is denial writ large when an entire segment of society, often struggling with the trauma of change, turns away from reality in favor of acomfortable lie Mr Specter opens Denialism by describing in thorough detail the Vioxx case an arthritis wonder drug that was pulled from the market in 2004 after an increased risk of heart attack and stroke was found to be linked to its usage He uses Merck s shortsighted and selfish mishandling of the drug s shortcomings as a powerful example of why so many people are distrustful of scientists and large corporations The next chapter outline...I m sure there s some good stuff in this book possibly enough to raise the review to two stars However, Specter s starting point is so horribly flawed that I can t continue reading this, and wouldn t recommend it to anyone else.Denialists piss me off Climate change deniailists, the anti vaccine movement, etc The thing we must be cautious about, however, is that because denialists have a completely warped view of reality, and ignore evidence and science, if you call someone a denialist you w I m sure there s some good stuff in this book possibly enough to raise the review to two stars However, Specter s starting point is so horribly flawed that I can t continue reading this, and wouldn t recommend it to anyone else.Denialists piss me off Climate change deniailists, the anti vaccine movement, etc The thing we must be cautious about, however, is that because denialists have a completely warped view of reality, and ignore evidence and science, if you call someone a denialist you will subsequently ignore any argument they make Instead of carefully building up his arguments first, Specter just leaps in and throws about the denialist epithet.I also object because Specter does not understand the distinction between science and technology A surprisingly large number of people don t, but I can t imagine how someone who didn ...This book is a polemic, railing against counter culture anxiety toward technological progress and scientific illiteracy, as expressed in the anti vaccination movement, organic ideology, GMO hysteria, etc I ve read several valid criticisms of the book, although most readers see at least some value in the message One thoughtful review noted that the author failed to distinguish between science and technology e.g., nuclear physics is science, nuclear weaponry is technology The author is freque This book is a polemic, railing against counter culture anxiety toward technological progress and scientific illiteracy, as expressed in the anti vaccination movement, organic ideology, GMO hysteria, etc I ve read several valid criticisms of the book, although most readers see at least some value in the message One thoughtful review noted that the author failed to distinguish between science and technology e.g., nuclear physics is science, nuclear weaponry is technology The author is frequently excoriated for his harsh treatment of denialists Onereview received almost 200 affirmative responses to a single 2 stars review This is the f...I read about two thirds of this book The point that it generally makes is good that it s good to embrace scientific progress and be logical However, I find in a number of his arguments he is rather simplistic, assuming that the situations are strictly black and white Notably, in the section on organic food he points out how companies noticed that transferring genes from a brazil nut to another plant, caused an allergic reactions to it that had not happened before and the company stopped th I read about two thirds of this book The point that it generally makes is good that it s good to embrace scientific progress and be logical However, I find in a number of his arguments he is rather simplistic, assuming that the situations are strictly black and white Notably, in the section on organic food he points out how companies noticed that transferring genes from a brazil nut to another plant, caused an allergic reactions to it that had not happened before and the company stopped their trials He doesn t address, though, that some companies may not be as diligent in testing for allergens that they might be introducing via genetic modification and there are many possible allergens, so it s unrealistic to expect a company to check fr...This book is excellent for what it is a general overview of several examples which illustrate denialism.No, it doesn t offer much in the way of solutions to the issues it addresses I didn t expect it to Of course it would have been nice, but I m against the idea that people should not promote awareness without also providing a solution except for when it s used as a political tactic to avoid actual discussion of solutions.Yes, it bypasses issues such as global warming and creationism in f This book is excellent for what it is a general overview of several examples which illustrate denialism.No, it doesn t offer much in the way of solutions to the issues it addresses I didn t expect it to Of course it would have been nice, but I m against the idea that people should not promote awareness without also providing a solution except for when it s used as a political tactic to avoid actual discussion of solutions.Yes, it bypasses issues such as global warming and creationism in favor of health and medicine That s okay I would have loved to read a chapter by Specter on each of these issues and manyBut he didn t write them, and again, that s okay I understand the view that Global Warming should have taken precedence as arelevant, pressing issue but that does not negate the vali...An OK survey of deniers of modern science such as the anti vaccine or alternative healing crowds On one level it s a well written and well researched polemic I certainly learned quite a bit about various movements, something about the science of different areas, and got quite worked up in places.On another level, though, it s sort of oddly unsatisfying By the end I got the feeling that Specter was primarily an optimist who just likes scientists as people and gets annoyed with idiotic conspi An OK survey of deniers of modern science such as the anti vaccine or alternative healing crowds On one level it s a well written and well researched polemic I certainly learned quite a bit about various movements, something about the science of different areas, and got quite worked up in places.On another level, though, it s sort of oddly unsatisfying By the end I got the feeling that Specter was primarily an optimist who just likes scientists as people and gets annoyed with idiotic conspiracy theories about pharmaceutical companies But while he s aware that not every invention is good, or put to good use the Vioxx chapter is excellent , he s mostly picking fights with popular but ignorant movements that don t require engagement onchallenging questions Good if you want to stock up on arguments, so so if you re curious about actual scientific work.The decision not to give a chapter to creationism or climate skeptics although he acknowledges both as deniers in passing is also a bit...Very, very interesting book to read Changed my thinking about a lot of things The author s basic premise is that some people, for whatever reason, want to believe whatever lunacy they ve chosen to believe over hard, scientific fact Normally that s not a problem It s when people like this band together and start making noise that others, possibly suffering from the same issues, jump on the bandwagon I d originally heard the author speak on NPR, and was interested in getting the book, mainly Very, very interesting book to read Changed my thinking about a lot of things The author s basic premise is that some people, for whatever reason, want to believe whatever lunacy they ve chosen to believe over hard, scientific fact Normally that s not a problem It s when people like this band together and start making noise that others, possibly suffering from the same issues, jump on the bandwagon I d originally heard the author speak on NPR, and was interested in getting the book, mainly because they were talking about the vaccine issue which totally irritates me, how some parents think they re smarter than doctors who ve been in school for 12 years as if doctors WANTED to fuck t...Not a good book For the most part, it read like an extended blog post, with some case studies on cool technologies, but without a lot of discussion on why people tend towards being anti science, or even about how culture discourages science literacy It was just some guy saying hey These people are stupid for taking person X s word for granted, and not taking scientist Y s word for granted, but they should totally take MY word for granted, even though I am also picking what experts and quotes Not a good book For the most part, it read like an extended blog post, with some case studies on cool technologies, but without a lot of discussion on why people tend towards being anti science, or even about how culture discourages science literacy It was just some guy saying hey These people are stupid for taki...3.5 5 starsAs many reviewers have pointed out, this book has some flaws in terms like science and technology, contains harsh treatments to the denialists, and lacks of supportive evidence and further suggestions on how to deal with the issues, but by no means that it has no good points whatsoever.While it is true that waking a sleeping person up is a waste of time, maybe among those who we think pretend to sleep, some are actually sleeping and waiting for the right methods evidence to tackle t 3.5 5 starsAs many reviewers have pointed out, this book has some flaws in terms like science and technology, contains harsh treatments to the denialists, and lacks of supportive evidence and further suggestions on how to deal with the issues, but by no means that it has no good points whatsoever.While it is true that waking a sleeping person up is a waste of time, maybe among those who we think pretend to sleep, some are actually sleeping and waiting for the right methods evidence to tackle them to wake up Absolute proofs of the safety of, say, GMOs and vaccines, are nearly impossible to present however, it does not mean that the results from observations and experiments have to be rejected altogether.We live in a world where some regions shower with food while others could not even find...Farm animals take up the vast majority of agricultural land and eat one third of the world s grain In the rich nations we consume three times the meat and four times the milk per capita of people in poorer countries Livestock already consume 80 percent of the world s soybeans andthan half the corn Cattle require staggering amounts of fresh, potable water It takes thirteen hundred gallons of water to produce a single hamburger a steak requires double that amount To make a Farm animals take up the vast majority of agricultural land and eat one third of the world s grain In the rich nations we consume three times the meat and four times the milk per capita of people in poorer countries Livestock already consume 80 percent of the world s soybeans andthan half the corn Cattle require staggering amounts of fresh, potable water It takes thirteen hundred gallons of water to produce a single hamburger a steak requires double that amount To make a pound of beef requires nearly a gallon of fuel If we all skipped meat and dairy just one day each week it would doto lower our collective carbon footprint than if the entire population of the United States ate locally pr...This book is an excellent source of information and proof that our self inflicted ignorance is limiting progress on a massive scale Specter cites vaccine misinformation, myths of the organic food movement, and the overarching misunderstanding of biotechnology and its potential as a few examples of this terrifying denialism I consider myself to be a fairly inquisitive and knowledgeable person when it comes to the things that I endorse Specter brought up many arguments in this particular book This book is an excellent source of information and proof that our self inflicted ignorance is limiting progress on a massive scale Specter cites vaccine misinformation, myths of the organic food movement, and the overarching misunderstanding of biotechnology and its potential as a few examples of this terrifying denialism I consider myself to be a fairly inquisitive and knowledgeable person when it comes to the things that I endorse Specter brought up many arguments in this particular book that made me think twice about what I m endorsing and why I was astounded at the statistics and credible information presented all things of which I was completely una...What I expected from this book was a neurological explanation of the propensity we all have for denialism from the psychologically protective mechanisms involved in absorbing tragedy in stages to the obstinate refusal of sometimes educated or influential people from Samuel Shenton founder of the Flat Earth Society to Sarah Palin to acknowledge scientific fact I still think that would be a very good book, and someone ought to write it.As it turns out, Denialism isabout the scientific What I expected from this book was a neurological explanation of the propensity we all have for denialism from the psychologically protective mechanisms involved in absorbing tragedy in stages to the obstinate refusal of sometimes educated or influential people from Samuel Shenton founder of the Flat Earth Society to Sarah Palin to acknowledge scientific fact I still think that would be a very good book, and someone ought to write it.As it turns out, Denialism isabout the scientific facts themselves and the consequences actual and potential of...Sometimes one just wants to give up on people Maybe give them what they want, doubled, in a place they will notice its presence Who knows if the science is right or wrong It s the best attempt of a blind man to determine the extent of an elephant If we put aside our greed and made a good faith effort not to blow the planet to smithereens, I think we could claim the joy the Buddhists tell us is our birthright In this book Specter voices his frustration at the illogic, misinformation, and dow Sometimes one just wants to give up on people Maybe give them what they want, doubled, in a place they will notice its presence Who knows if the science is right or wrong It s the best attempt of a blind man to determine the extent of an elephant If we put aside our greed and made a good faith effort not to blow the planet to smithereens, I think we could claim the joy the Buddhists tell us is our birthright In this book Specter voices his frustration at the illogic, misinformation, and downright p...Confirmation bias is a harsh mistress Denialism How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens our Lives stands a testament to that, and whether it meant to or not forced examination of how I process and internalize information in order to form opinions.The first half of the book is appealing, in both the this content is informative way as well as the I agree with this general sentiment way The early chapters bounce from vaccines to Vioxx, Complementa Confirmation bias is a harsh mistress Denialism How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens our Lives stands a testament to that, and whether it meant to or not forced examination of how I process and internalize information in order to form opinions.The first half of the book is appealing, in both the this content is informative way as well as the I agree with this general sentiment way The early chapters bounce from vaccines to Vioxx, Complementary and Alternative Medicine to organic produce It shows its age a bit it was published in 2009 by continuing to flay Jenny McCarthy for her hardline stance on the non existent link between vaccines and autism, rather than flay her for her nearly as irresponsible tepid recant She could be positioned as ...

• English
• 26 May 2018
Michael Specter
• Hardcover
• 304 pages
• 1594202303
• Michael Specter
• Denialism