Why Can't We Agree About Scientific Facts? The Psychology of Differing World Views

Our age is marked by the proliferation of information, and yet we can’t agree. Science is supposed to be neutral, and yet it has generated some of the deepest societal divides. Why? This short film helps explain why our response to scientific information depends on psychology, emotion, peer pressure, politics, and cultural influences.

CREDITS:
- Film produced, directed, and written by Madhulika Sikka
- Narrated by John Donvan
- Edited by Gil Setzer
- Music by Jingle Punks
- Additional footage by Getty, Pond 5 and Shutterstock

[carlg]

If people can’t agree on “scientific facts”, it’s all down to education and a persons ability to reason.

[rickwyant]

Consensus doesn't equal right, doesn't mean correct. The majority doesn't determine reality.

[darkgrapeful]

Because your "facts" beg a question. i.e. While there is a consensus that, the climate changes, (as it has for millions of years) and that "man" effects this, (as do all living things), there is not a consensus, on the amount, consequence, or a "solution." That is not science, merely propaganda.

[Chillman]

How to fix it? Experimentations... Lot's of experimentations!

[alpheuswoodley]

I agree with each person about some of the discussed issues. I appreciated how it was not the central facts in dispute, but the ethics and logical soundness of different political priorities.

[thetimeisnigh]

4:24 "We don't adjust our world view based on reality. We adjust reality based on our world view." I'm stealing that one.

[thewiseturtle]

Memetic diversity is evolution's way of immunizing life against catastrophic changes to our environment. ALL of the different biases are necessary as options for when the inevitable unexpected future happens. The mainstream conclusions, even for scientists, are biased, and missing crucial information, simply due to the complexity of reality. So even the most "obvious" belief of "what is right" can be totally deadly, with just a small change to the universe. And those small changes happen all the time. So it's very important that not everyone follow the herd, even when the herd seems to be "so right".

[squidgychicken]

Token women (check)
Script (check)
Fact = feeling (check)

Welcome to 2019 folks

[JohnSmith-tdhd]

How can you say that somebody is scientifically literate and have them not believe in global warming? You can either understand the data or not, but not understanding the data implies scientific ILliteracy.

[Hookooo]

Is it cause the easily available information (internet) that huge portion of population think these days that they are *smarter than experts*?

[terrywbreedlove]

A theory is not a fact it is a theory.

[primemover]

A famous scientist by the name of Albert Einstein said, “that genius abhors consensus because when consensus is reached, thinking stops.”

[portalulemitent]

Any forbidding leads to the black market, any kind of dictatorship even scientific leads to the revolt, any imposition leads to corruption. Surely these are not resolutions. Despite all the hardships, we need to continue with research, with education, better laws, more justice. Until we find an immediate miraculous solutions, we must at least to preserve that the science from everywhere comes almost every day with a breakthrough, invention or innovation. I consider that any debate is welcome. Bravo for the video.

[Paradoxarn.]

Is the fact that we disagree really a problem? Sure deep societal divides can lead to trouble but should we really frame things in terms of getting people to agree on the facts? I think the challenge is how to allow different worldviews to exist in parallel peacefully. Surely there is no freedom without freedom of thought and no freedom of thought without the freedom to be wrong. This is especially true if the positivist notion of neutral facts turn out to be wrong (spoiler alert: it does).

[MrAbeAllen]

*title seems like badly worded sentence. Maybe “why” not “what”.

[pratypt]

Its funny how they choose people who look like the people they are representing 🤣🤣🤣

[TheSecurityAgency]

What about scientific bias, because of the public funding and totally distorted political views? )
What about negative selection not only in a public institution, but in a politicized science it self ? ))) Lol

[michaelayalaathotmai]

@Squidgy Chicken - Your reply does not show up in the comments even though I got a notification for it. Being only a single word, "Nope", it does not explain much. Are you referring to the last question I asked about the University of East Anglia's leaked email that said, "...hide the decline..."? You may have been to young at the time to remember it. It is easy to find. That was a very embarrassing episode in climate alarmist history when the observed data showed how flawed the alarmist models and math calculations were and are and divergent from reality.

[uncleouch]

I'm staying away from either of those ladies!

[Fittiboy]

Let's all band together and get this video to a 50/50 like/dislike ratio