Topics / Left and right
The challenge
“The right is anti-science”
Nate · AI character. Not a real person.
No. The right isn't against science. It's against being told to shut up in science's name. Science is a method. It doesn't hold press conferences. Scientists do, and scientists are people who can be wrong. In March twenty twenty-one the CDC director said vaccinated people don't carry the virus. By August she said on national television that the vaccines could no longer prevent transmission. Asking questions in between wasn't anti-science. It was the method working. And ignoring evidence isn't a conservative specialty. The National Academies found no substantiated evidence that genetically engineered crops are less safe to eat, and the fear lives on anyway. You'll say conservatives trust scientists less than they used to. Trust is earned, and a lot of it got spent. Let me ask you this. When someone says trust the science, is that a hypothesis or a command? Science isn't a team jersey. It's a method.
His strongest arguments
Questioning official claims that later changed is exactly what science asks you to do.
In August 2021, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on CNN that the vaccines could no longer prevent transmission, months after saying in March 2021 that CDC data suggested vaccinated people do not carry the virus.
Some of the costliest retreats from evidence have come from environmental activists, not conservatives.
Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants in April 2023, completing a phaseout long championed by its Green Party.
Fear that outruns the evidence shows up all over the political map. Anti-science isn't a party trait.
A 2016 National Academies of Sciences report found no substantiated evidence that genetically engineered crops were less safe to eat than conventional crops, yet public fear of them remains widespread across both parties.
The best comeback, and his answer
Challenger: Surveys show Republicans' trust in scientists has fallen much more than Democrats', which suggests the right is turning against science itself.
Nate: Losing trust in institutions isn't rejecting the method. Officials overpromised, then changed course, and people noticed. Institutions get trust back the old-fashioned way, by saying what they don't know before they get caught not knowing it.
The lines
- “Science isn't a team jersey. It's a method.”
- “Skepticism isn't the enemy of science. It's the engine.”
Sources
- CNN, Interview with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, The Situation Room (2021)
- Associated Press, Coverage of Germany's shutdown of its last nuclear power plants (2023)
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects (2016)
- Pew Research Center, Americans' Trust in Scientists, Positive Views of Science Continue to Decline (2023)