Key insights from
Merchants of Doubt
By Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway
Audio available
14 minute read
Published May 31, 2011
What you'll learn
Science should be something we can rely on to educate ourselves on various subjects. We trust that scientists do extensive research and provide us with accurate results. Unfortunately, scientific truth can be obscured in the way it is presented, demonstrating only what a small group of particular scientists (or the politicians they work for) want us to believe. This small group has conspired over a span of four decades, sowing seeds of doubt in the minds of the public on every topic from tobacco use’s relationship to cancer to global warming.
Key insights
- • What you'll learn
- 1 The origin of merchandising doubt in science can be traced back to tobacco use.
- 2 Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars initiative created debate among scientists and politicians alike.
- 3 Acid rain, an environmental concern, also became a political issue.
- 4 The ozone hole was another politically divisive environmental concern, but one that actually inspired regulation.
- 5 The tobacco debate experienced a rebirth with studies on secondhand smoke and its effects.
- 6 Global warming remains the ultimate politicized scientific issue.
- 7 The banning of DDT became politicized long after the ban was implemented.
- 8 The politicization of science can be directly linked to free market capitalism.
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