In Whose Hands the Future?

Abstract

Some issues that are uncontroversial within the relevant scientific community, such as the facts that HIV causes AIDS, that childhood vaccinations save countless lives, and that the globe is warming from human greenhouse gas emissions are hotly contested in public. In some cases, the opposition to well-established science crosses the boundary from skepticism to denial. Science denial is characterized by several common attributes that are explored here and that are illustrated with a particular focus on how scientists themselves are affected by denial. The illustration uses the author’s own experience with attempts to suppress and silence his research on the drivers of climate denial. Although this is a personal story, it has implications for the scientific community and scientific institutions.