This may be partially what has happened with “science” but in reverse. Liberals used science to defend some of their policies, conservatives started attacking it, and now it has become an applause light for liberals—for example, the “March for Science” I keep hearing about on Facebook. I am concerned about this trend because the increasing politicization of science will likely result in both reduced quality of science (due to bias) and decreased public acceptance of even those scientific results that are not biased.
I agree with your concern, but I think that you shouldn’t limit your fear to party-aligned attacks.
For example, the Thirty-Meter Telescope in Hawaii was delayed by protests from a group of people who are most definitely “liberal” on the “liberal/conservative” spectrum (in fact, “ultra-liberal”). The effect of the protests is definitely significant. While it’s debatable how close the TMT came to cancelation, the current plan is to grant no more land to astronomy atop Mauna Kea.
Agreed. There are plenty of liberal views that reject certain scientific evidence for ideological reasons—I’ll refrain from examples to avoid getting too political, but it’s not a one-sided issue.
This may be partially what has happened with “science” but in reverse. Liberals used science to defend some of their policies, conservatives started attacking it, and now it has become an applause light for liberals—for example, the “March for Science” I keep hearing about on Facebook. I am concerned about this trend because the increasing politicization of science will likely result in both reduced quality of science (due to bias) and decreased public acceptance of even those scientific results that are not biased.
I agree with your concern, but I think that you shouldn’t limit your fear to party-aligned attacks.
For example, the Thirty-Meter Telescope in Hawaii was delayed by protests from a group of people who are most definitely “liberal” on the “liberal/conservative” spectrum (in fact, “ultra-liberal”). The effect of the protests is definitely significant. While it’s debatable how close the TMT came to cancelation, the current plan is to grant no more land to astronomy atop Mauna Kea.
Agreed. There are plenty of liberal views that reject certain scientific evidence for ideological reasons—I’ll refrain from examples to avoid getting too political, but it’s not a one-sided issue.