Episode 140 - How Liberals Are Accidentally Fueling Science Deniers

[JulyDiaz 2797]

We've never known more about our world and our universe, but at the same time it feels like there are more people who completely ignore science than ever before. They can come in all shapes and forms of crazy. There are anti-vaxxers, climate change truthers, and for some reason we've still got flat-earthers. Flat-earthers! C'mon people what year is it?! Didn't Magellan put that one to rest, like, 500 years ago?

 

Surely this all comes down to religion, right?

 

Not exactly. A Gallup poll found that about 40% of Americans believe Earth was created by God less than 10,000 years ago. However, of that group, 23% don't go to church. So almost a quarter of young-Earthers aren't even religious. What's going on? What are the sociological forces keeping these ideas so strongly rooted in so many people's heads?

 

On this week's podcast Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Soren Bowie and Alex Schmidt to cover the modern history of science deniers. We ask where they come from, why they are so prominent now, and if we have to think of science and myth as contradictory.

 

Also, make sure to come to our next live podcast taping on Saturday, September 10th at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles, where Jack and the Cracked staff will flip-off movies like 'Sully' and 'Deepwater Horizon' and pitch some insane true stories that should be made into big Hollywood movies instead. Tickets are only $5 and are available here: https://goo.gl/VP9riY

 

Footnotes:

 

Live Science: 4 in 10 Americans Believe God Created Earth 10,000 Years Ago: http://goo.gl/Ck3ijG

 

New Yorker: The Denialists: http://goo.gl/M6aEmQ

 

New Yorker: The Mistrust of Science: http://goo.gl/pGuAio

 

New Yorker: I Don't Want To Be Right: http://goo.gl/7NXaoP

 

New Yorker: Ben Carson's Scientific Ignorance: http://goo.gl/a0ZsGc

 

Cracked: 5 Dark Sides of the Tech Industry No One Ever Talks About: http://goo.gl/uI0pYy

 

NYT: A Confession of Liberal Intolerance: http://goo.gl/3wlDbt

 

The Guardian: Exxon Knew of Climate Change in 1981: https://goo.gl/1Lx4SU

 

Cognitive Dissonance: https://goo.gl/KUvQ9

 

Scientific American: It's Time for Scientists to Stop Explaining So Much: https://goo.gl/KUvQ9

 

Cracked: 6 Mind-Blowing Ways Zombies and Vampires Explain America: http://goo.gl/CQICP

 

New Scientist: The Maddeningly Magical Maths of John Dee: https://goo.gl/izlNgx

 

 

Come see us at the Now Hear This podcast festival: nowhearthisfest.com

[MarcelleLabuschagne 0]

The "fact" they brought up about South Africa and the AIDS deniers is old. The health minister at the time (Manto Thabalala-Msimang)who proposed that story has not been in that office since 2008. The president at that time, Thabo Mbeki, was forced to resign by his party in 2008. His successor removed her from office and did not support their views on this. The issue is mostly a non-issue now, with people being able to get ARVs in government hospitals.

 

Please do your research better. It's bad enough that the existing western conception of "Africa" is that everyone is uneducated and misinformed. It's a political decision people in power make to save money, just like the climate-change deniers in the American government.

 

https://en.wikipedia...in_South_Africa

https://en.wikipedia...iki/Thabo_Mbeki

https://en.wikipedia...abalala-Msimang

[DaveDrazek 0]

You guys might consider reading Thomas Sowell. He discusses, in depth, facts about humanity, economics, science, and government, both on a national scale and globally. I think you might find his discussions both interesting and helpful. That said, I think you do a pretty good job on your research and discussion when you present subjects like this.