Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens our Lives

November 18, 2009
Michael Specter | Staff Writer, The New Yorker

For centuries, the general view had been that science is neither good nor bad, that it merely supplies information ad that new information is always beneficial. Now we live in a world where the leaders of Africa nations prefer to let their citizens starve rather than import genetically modified grains, and where childhood vaccines, one of the most effective health measures in history has people marching against their use. In the best universities in the world the research labs are surrounded by security guards, because their research involves experiments with animals. Are we going to continue to embrace new science and technologies, with their limitations and threats, or will we move back into a time of magical thinking?

Speaker Details

Michael Specter writes about science, technology and global public health for The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1998. He has served as the national science reporter for the Washington Post as well as the New York bureau chief. He has twice received the Global Health Council’s Excellence in Media Award, as well as the Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.