It would be helpful if society relied on science to help guide decision-making. But us humans are such stubborn things that if it contradicts their own personal beliefs then scientific knowledge is shut down. If society as a whole relied on science on decision-making. Then laws governing the emission of greenhouse gas would be enacted and regulated, just as an example. Its important for society to rely on science because then we would be looking out for us and the planet that we live on. This isn’t a house that you can rent out and trash the place with the only consequence being is not getting your security deposit back, we keep trashing our planet and cutting down trees for resources when all we are doing is harming the planet that houses all of us beings and animals.
Climate change has been a controversy ever since it has been introduced to the public. Nonbelievers are offended that scientists dare blame the human population for the actions they have been involved with such as the burning of fossil fuels that has such a high correlation with global warming ever since the mid-20th century. People pay more attention to the news which is covered with professional controversialists than the facts that scientists have been working on and testing for years regarding global warming. Hierarchical and individualistic mind-sets have taken over the media where they see that climate change is a natural occurrence and that the government is simply just trying to regulate their business and operations that do in fact have a negative impact on the environment.
As the article states, “science appeals to our rational brain, but our beliefs are motivated largely by emotion, and our biggest motivation is remaining tight with our peers.” People just want to fit in and be a part of a community, but that community often shapes their beliefs to side with everyone else’s, otherwise you would not be welcomed in that community of nonbelievers. Another good point the article makes is how people need to hear from the believers they trust. If they are strong believers with all of the facts on their side, then the nonbeliever will have to mistrust the person, which is unlikely in most cases, so their opinion on the matter slightly softens and changes.
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I believe that the public should most definitely be vaccinated. It doesn’t just help out the person with the vaccination in their system, but those who cannot afford it. Diseases will have a less likeliness to spread if more people were vaccinated and are actively fighting it in their system. Vaccinations have saved the lives of many children that are susceptible to diseases such as whooping cough, measles, or polio. Now a days, you don’t seem as many occurrences of deaths in children because they have been vaccinated and protected against the virus. While the diseases are still a threat, getting vaccinated immensely lowers your chances of being a subject of death to those diseases. The only exception that I deem right is a medical exception, which is accepted by all 50 states of the United States.
Another issue that the public doesn’t seem to fond about having scientific findings behind is the viruses that take the nation into fear because of falsified news reports. Ebola for example is only spread by direct contact with bodily fluids, but America has made it in to a airborne disease that can be caught as easily as the common flu. It is saddening to see so many people fall for the media coverage on a disease rather than scientific findings that have had countless tests conducted to back up their beliefs.
References
- National Geographic – Global Warming Causes and Effects
- Environmental Protection Agency – Climate Change
- NASA – Evidence of Climate Change
- NASA Earth Observatory – Changes in Snow and Ice
- Skeptical Science – Examining the Science of Global Warming Skepticism
- The New York Times – Global Warming and Climate Change News
