日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Europe

Dangerously blinded by science

By Harvey Morris | China Daily Europe | Updated: 2017-09-15 08:52
Share
Share - WeChat

Internet has played a big part in blurring the line between valuable information and crackpot conspiracy theories

In a recent poll of Nobel Prize winners - some of the world's top academic minds - a large majority agreed with the proposition that political polarization and the rise of populism represent major threats to scientific progress.

The survey was timed to coincide with a World Academic Forum in London this month.

"Today, facts seem to be questioned by many people who prefer to believe rumors rather than well-established scientific facts," said French chemist and Nobel laureate Jean-Pierre Sauvage, one of the participants.

The poll reflected growing concern that populist campaigns against "experts" and "elites" are not only fostering public mistrust but also threatening funding for vital scientific research.

Forty European academic institutions have meanwhile just announced they are to launch a major investigation into whether public trust in experts has collapsed in the so-called "post-truth" era.

Linked to these concerns is the perception that the welter of information - true and false - now available on the internet is generating more heat than light around a range of scientific issues.

The trend toward seeking information online has undermined some traditional systems of quality control, according to a paper by Cambridge professor Baroness O'Neill, who is co-chairing the European academic study.

Some academics have singled out specific politicians for fostering the assault on expertise.

During Britain's 2016 referendum campaign on membership of the European Union, leading Brexit campaigner Michael Gove was widely criticized for his comment that "the people in this country have had enough of experts".

On issues such as climate change, much of the US public embraces the denialism of President Donald Trump rather than accept overwhelming scientific evidence that global warming is, at least in part, man-made.

Of course, scientists are not infallible. For decades, official dietary guidance in Western societies was based on avoiding fats and gorging carbohydrates. The up-to-date advice is almost diametrically opposite.

In another much-targeted field of expertise - economics - most of its practitioners entirely failed to predict the global economic crisis of 2008.

These and similar examples suggest that a healthy and informed skepticism should be the order of the day. Experts may do their best but they do not always get it right.

The problem is that the internet age has exaggerated a tendency among those who instinctively reject the received wisdom of "experts" to accept the alternatives offered by cranks, fraudsters and conspiracy theorists.

The online echo chamber magnifies oddball theories that have no scientific credibility but which nevertheless appeal to the prejudices of those who believe they are the victims of a vast and shadowy international conspiracy.

Hence, many believe not only that manmade climate change is a hoax but also that the 1969 moon landing was faked and that almost anyone but al-Qaida blew up New York's Twin Towers on Sept 11, 2001. Anything that reflects a more fact-based consensus is condemned as "fake news".

The populist backlash against "experts" is finally prompting a response from the experts themselves. Some concede that it is time for academics to come out of their ivory towers and spend more time explaining the value of their work to the lay people who are ultimately paying for it through their taxes.

At a US conference this summer organized by Times Higher Education, Ceri Thomas, communications director at Britain's Oxford University, said the freedom of academics to operate depended on having broad public support. "The gulf in understanding between us and a big chunk of the world around us feels dangerously wide at the moment," he warned.

Those tempted to dismiss expertise out of hand, and the populist politicians who exploit their gullibility, might reflect that most of the benefits of modern society have come through the painstaking research of generations of experts, scientists and academics. And that includes the internet, by the way.

The author is a senior editorial consultant for China Daily. Contact the writer at [email protected].

(China Daily European Weekly 09/15/2017 page11)

Today's Top News

Editor's picks

Most Viewed

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 草樱av| 91福利一区二区在线观看 | 天堂在线视频 | 日韩中文字幕在线视频 | av国产精品 | 国产精品毛片久久久久久 | 亚洲中出 | 亚洲国产日韩欧美综合久久 | 日韩精品一区二区三区不卡 | 亚洲黄区| 国产精品色综合 | 伊人久操 | 欧美日韩在线观看中文字幕 | 五月天婷婷在线视频 | 成年黄网站在线观看免费 | 奇米吧 | 西西人体大胆77777视频 | 五月激情小说 | 99精品免费视频 | 一区二区中文字幕 | 精品一区二区三区四区 | 激情久久一区二区 | 欧美精品二区三区 | 香港全黄一级毛片在线播放 | 黑色丝袜美女被狂躁 | 91亚洲精品丁香在线观看 | 亚洲精品中文字幕乱码一区二区 | 国产在线观看免费 | 三级黄色片在线免费观看 | 精品久久久久久久久久 | av毛片| 精品国产视频 | 男女性爽大片在线观看 | 久久综合五月开心婷婷深深爱 | 黄视频网站在线看 | 欧美综合中文字幕久久 | 青娱乐99| 色综合色综合色综合色综合 | 久久精品视频99 | 亚洲午夜在线 | 无遮挡一级毛片私人影院 |