I recently came across an old video of Isaac Asimov being interviewed about his thoughts on science, rationality, and superstition. It’s from 1988 but, sadly, still relevant today. Much of Asimov’s discussion concerns his thoughts about religion but that’s not the part that resonated with me. He also discussed the usual new age nuttiness like astrology—which is hardly new—and all the rest of it. Again, that’s not the part that concerns me.
What did resonate with me was his lamenting the rejection of science on the part of some people. You still see some of that from fringe religious groups like the creationists and others. That’s unfortunate but, again, not what concerns us here.
Rather, it’s the rejection of science for political reasons that should concern us. If you’re thinking, “Yeah, those guys on the other side should knock that off” you’re missing the point. Both sides of the political divide are guilty. Some on the right are all too happy to reject science if interferes with some political belief. A recent example is the inexplicable refusal to wear masks during the pandemic despite clear scientific evidence that they protect not just others but the wearer. Even though it’s a life and death issue, they’d rather hold firm to their political dogma than listen to what science has to say on the matter.
Those on the left aren’t innocent either. They’ll happily suppress scientific findings and punish the scientists responsible for them if they believe they contravene the progressive narrative. They take to Twitter to get the transgressors fired and make them unemployable. It’s not that they don’t believe the science, they simply think that it’s dangerous to permit scientific findings that challenge their received wisdom.
All of these people are dangerous and should be excluded from a polite and rational society. It’s too bad we still have to talk about this after Asimov made such a convincing case for embracing the rational.