The Very Thick Line Between Raising Concerns And Denialism

The real question is, which side of the line are studies that lack scientific rigor on?Image credit: silent47 Recently, Kara Moses asked Guardian readers: "Should we wait for conclusive scientific studies before becoming concerned about an issue?" Her personal answer was no; that special interest groups should perform and publicize their own findings. "I believe they should be given a voice," she concluded, "not dismissed out of hand for lacking the scientific rigour demanded by professional scientists." Quick to support her was Treehugger writer Chris Tackett. "The point here is that scientific proof matters in science, but it shouldn't necessarily be what determines our actions," he wrote. "We can intuit that some things are unwise or dangerous or against our values without needing reams of scientific data to back up our concerns." While Kara's piece talked only about the use of glyphosate (the pesticide known by its brand name RoundUp), Chris used it to attack both the pesticide's use and Monsanto GM crops. I understand where they are coming from, but the hair on the back of my neck bristled reading those words. I think they're both getting into very dangerous territory (or, in the case of Chris' comments later, happily dancing around in it). The trouble is, it's one thing to notice a potential danger and raise a few alarm bells to get scientists to investigate an issue — it's a whole other to publicize and propagandize an unsubstantiated fear despite evidence against it. The former is important, as Kara suggests, and should occur. I have no problem with non-scientists raising honest concerns, if their goal is to have the concerns considered — so long as they're actually willing to hear what the evidence has to say. The latter, on the other hand, is denialism. You see, once scientists have weighed in, you have to be willing to listen to them. When it was first suggested that vaccines might lead to autism, is was a legitimate question to ask. Kids seemed to develop autism around the same age they got their vaccines — and can you imagine if the vaccines were to blame? That would have been huge news! We would have had to revolutionize the vaccine industry, to start from scratch and figure out if we can keep these life-saving shots without screwing up our kids' brains. One of the core foundations of our children's public health program would have been forever shaken. So, like they should, independent scientists investigated the concerns. They checked and double checked the safety testing. They ran and re-ran results, but they kept getting the same answer: whatever causes autism, it isn't vaccines. A cumulative sigh of relief was uttered by doctors, nurses, scientists, parents and children around the world. Except that some people didn't listen to the data. They called foul, saying every scientist that disagreed with them was under the thumb of Big Pharma and lying to the public. They released the results of unscientific, pet studies showing how they are right and everyone else is wrong. These anti-vaxers still won't give up their beliefs, even though scientists have come to consensus that vaccines are, in no way, related to autism. We see the same refusal to listen when it comes to climate change. It doesn't matter how many studies show the same thing, or how many consensuses are reached by scientists. They simply don't want to question their biases. They don't want to be informed. They stick their fingers in their ears like children, shouting "I can't hear you!" — and sadly, the same attitude is found throughout the anti-GMO platform. Instead of listening to the evidence, campaign groups conduct unrigorous, unscientific and completely biased studies, dig in their heels, and stand their ground. Just look at the recent anti-GM rat and pig studies which have been thoroughly flayed by scientists that have nothing to gain from the GM industry. The groups that performed and published these "trials" weren't asking whether GM foods are unsafe; they sought and executed sham research hellbent on proving their beliefs, then denied any conflict of interest. I can't agree with Kara that such studies deserve equal voice. They don't.  I'm not sure where Kara stands on the GM issue, but Chris' clear bias towards one side of the argument shows in the comments. "I don't need scientists to tell me that GMOs are not a good idea," he says. There is an astounding level of cognitive dissonance in his statements. Though Chris brings up climate change, he misses his own point. For example, he calls out deniers, saying that "once enough peer-review science had been completed, still maintaining disproven beliefs would not be respectable, like in the case of global warming deniers", then doesn't even blink when he says "I would dislike GMOs whether the scientific community agreed they were bad or not. Likewise, I think we should not use Roundup, whether the scientific community agrees that it is dangerous or not." [emphasis mine]. This is exactly the problem.