Science Denial: Why It Happens and What to Do About It

by Gale M. Sinatra, Barbara K Hofer (Contributor)

How do individuals decide whether to accept human causes of climate change, vaccinate their children against childhood diseases, or practice social distancing during a pandemic? Democracies depend on educated citizens who can make informed decisions for the benefit of their health and well-being, as well as their communities, nations, and planet. Understanding key psychological explanations for science denial and doubt can help provide a means for improving scientific literacy and understanding―critically important at a time when denial has become deadly. In Science Why It Happens and What to Do About It , the authors identify the problem and why it matters and offer tools for addressing it. This book explains both the importance of science education and its limitations, shows how science communicators may inadvertently contribute to the problem, and explains how the internet and social media foster misinformation and disinformation. The authors focus on key psychological
constructs such as reasoning biases, social identity, epistemic cognition, and emotions and attitudes that limit or facilitate public understanding of science, and describe solutions for individuals, educators, science communicators, and policy makers. If you have ever wondered why science denial exists, want to know how to understand your own biases and those of others, and would like to address the problem, this book will provide the insights you are seeking.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Sociology, Psychology, Audiobook

208 pages, Hardcover

Published July 7, 2021

Reviews

[Heather Ness-Maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

My biggest concern for going back to teaching is how to handle students who just don't believe facts/science, and I think this book helped calm some of those concerns by presenting the why people do this and then also how to address it. The recommendations in every chapter are broken down for the individual, educator, science communicator, and policymakers. I'm not sure I would make this required reading for an undergrad class, but maybe a grad class for people who'll be educators. But I will use the recommendations for educators in my future undergrad classes.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was honestly one of the better books I’ve read on science denial. Right now, there are a lot of books about the spread of misinformation, a lack of scientific literacy, and related topics, but Sinatra and Hofer brought something fresh. The book is broken down into sections that explain what the problem is, but more importantly, why it happens. Sinatra and Hofer run through the whole gambit discussing how emotions, biases, flawed reasoning, and more contribute to science denial while pulling in various pieces of research. As a parent, I also really enjoyed how they sprinkled in tips for how we can do a better job of teaching our children how to verify the information and understand science a little better. I loved this book and really hope it gets some more mainstream attention.

[Cloak88 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit optimistic, but interesting.

Science denial has unfortunately become a fact of life in it's prevalence and impact on modern politics. This book provides the means to identify and combat this growing threat.

Overall this was quite a good book. The subject is explained well both in theory and with practical examples. I had little difficulty understanding the topics discusses and the authors did a good job keeping me engaged in the text. For the most part this is an American Centric book. The situations, examples and some of the obstacles all point to this, but even so readers from other countries may benefit from reading this book. Science Denial is not geographically bound and can be found everywhere.
In all this book takes a somewhat optimistic view (in my opinion) on the amount and extend active measures can be taken to counteract Science Denial. The authors mostly hold the view that with enough being done things can chance, but often overlook the real dangers of active encouragement of Science Denial for political or economic gain. These are real issues, and it is something that I would have like to see being addressed in this book.

Having said this this is a book worth reading even if it's just so you can recognize Science Denial in your own reasoning should you experience it.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. As someone who lives in a social and professional bubble surrounded by scientists, it can be easy to feel frustrated at the anti-science views of so many Americans. This book opened my eyes to just how hard it is for the average person to wade through all the bogus info to find the facts. I didn't appreciate just how sophisticated the misinformation campaigns on the internet were. I can't say I came away feeling better about the future of science literacy in America, but I did end up more empathetic.

[Fredrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book goes through science denial, why people don't believe and what we can do to make people understand science.
There are many types of denial and many roads that lead to undermining and mistrusting science.
This book goes through a lot of them, the most normal one being media creating a narrative of there being two sides, and group pressure from friends and family.
The book goes further and talks about how one can teach critical thinking in school or even to adults.
I have seen many people who would have gained a lot from this kind of education early in life. I think most adults and kids would have a better understanding of the world around them and what to trust if we made it into something mandatory in schools.

Having talked with conspiracyminded people, there are many things I recognize in the book. One of the main ones being that they have created a narrative where they can't be proven wrong.
As the book states: Ask people what would show them that what they believe are false?
I have done this with Q supporters, since if the predictions are true, then Q and the New World Order is true. If on the otherhand the predictions are wrong, then it is evidence of the deepstate and they reach, and therefore it also confirms Q and NWO.
Everything in the world is evidence for them being right.
The problem, that I didn't find being adressed, is that when things like these are pointed out to them, they stop responding or ignore it.

A book that I think everyone should read. Maybe especially teachers and others in a station where they can influence the thinking of others.

[Anastasia Croft · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an interesting read and seeing the psychology behind science denial.

[Heath · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are definitely things in this book that I wish everyone would learn more about. Digital and information literacy are two that come to mind immediately. Those who have these skills are getting smarter and those who don't are unfortunately headed the other way. We are in a time when we just can't understand everything at a level deep enough to justify our decisions based on our own findings alone in every arena.

I hope Christians specifically will double down on science and encourage more Christian men and women to be interested in science and to trust in what science can help us understand. There is no reason for pulling back from scientific methods and reasoning. Christians can and should be leaders in the scientific community.

Science is seeking to understand and discover all that God has created. We really are seekers of one truth even if many in our fallen world don't believe that. Just as scientist (or at the least science journalist) are learning to put a story behind their findings to engage the general public there is a place to interpret science differently in light of a Christian world view. It's not to change general findings or dispute most of the methods and research but to realize that their are spiritual forces and means that also exist and must not be disregarded.

Ultimately though I found it at least mildly scurrilous. It's a hard pass for me in terms of recommending or mentioning it in conversations even when some of the content might be useful.

[Duane Nickell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It was written by two academicians and published by the Oxford University Press, so I was afraid it might be a bit dry. It wasn't. The writing is easy-to-read and the information is extremely well-organized. In part 1 of this short book, the authors identify the problem and specifically address problems with science on the internet. In part 2, they present five psychological explanations for science denial. At the end of nearly all the chapters, they suggest actions that can be taken by individuals, educators, science communicators, and policy makers. Some of the material is repeated several times, but that's OK. Any good teacher will tell you that you need to repeat information over and over again for it to sink in. Science denial is a critically important issue and I'm glad this excellent book addresses the issue so well. (I'm still trying to understand the unusual cover photo. My guess is that the tree with one branch alive and full of leaves while the other branch is dead is symbolic of the choice between accepting and denying science. Any other interpretations?)

[Mr. Twinkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent book. I gotta be honest here. I am one of the people who have been confused about the scientific approach. When on one hand it claims to be the "truth" and at the same time is open to change it seems confusing. However, after reading this I am definitely more confident and trusting that science knows what it is doing.

Crossing fingers for the reduction of science denial and a world where the scientific approach again can claim the position of being the best method for getting close to the truth.

[Eleanor Eck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great! I was naive to think practicing science communication is as simple as filling people with science facts and knowledge. Promoting a scientific mindset - a mindset that forms opinions based on evidence and a mindset that is open to change depending on the strength of evidence - is significantly more important than being able to retain science facts. It was also really beneficial for me to refresh what I know about vetting resources and understanding bias in said sources. I would recommend this book to anyone navigating the digital age.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

As science understanding and acceptance declines, two educational psychologists examine what can be done. This book is written with teachers, community leaders, and members of the public who want to understand the acceptance in denialism and improve the communication with those they interact with. The writing is easy to understand, and for the most part, not academic. This book should be mandatory reading for all science teachers.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating nonfiction that dives into the psychological reasoning behind science denial whether it's regarding climate change, vaccines, etc. While I had to reread sentences because it was dense material, still very interesting. Great facts, data, references and more

[Tatumally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps I overestimated my interest in reading a book set up in a scholarly way, but I think it’s great for what it was

[Patrick Bair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good info here

[Joe Parry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, very dense and rich with pysch data and research. Really makes you think.

[Alexandra Towner · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVERYONE SHOULD READ

[Jan Bloxham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book seems completely accurate and deserves five stars for all kinds of reasons, but is just too damn dry.

[Jamie Hofmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

reads like a training video on how to effectively deal with your conspiracy-theory-prone relative, co-worker, etc. a little dry but really useful.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a literature review, but not in a bad way, it's just not the book to read if you're looking for a risky or loudly argued bravado take on how to handle denialism - it's the opposite, it's very careful, non-arrogant, and has citations galore. It is not tedious though. Anyone can read it. This is the kind of book that'll stand the test of time as a concrete general introduction to the subject itself, like for a 101 course, and I think the authors have done a good job hitting this mark without it become dry by using their own relevant case studies as stories that intertwine with the discussion itself.

[Eduardo Mejía Carbonel · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Excelente libro! Explica de manera sencilla con base científica sobre porque la gente no actúa guiada por el conocimiento científico y hay terraplanistas y antivacunas.