In an age emphasising the freedom of the individual, from all the available information people select what supports their own prejudices. In the science community, this phenomenon is called cherry-picking. Picture: Unsplash.
An increasingly vocal section of Europeans believe in themselves or their neighbour more than they do researchers. Why does talking from experience outdo scientific knowledge?
First the good news: in Europe the faith of citizens in the scientist continues to be very good. We perhaps doubt politicians but not scientists.
Now the bad news: an increasingly vocal section of population throughout Europe believes more in their own experience or that of their neighbour than in experts or researched knowledge.
In discussing science, a split into different camps is evident. There are climate sceptics and vaccine critics. Creationists question the theory of evolution. Smear campaigns are being targeted at scientists, the aim of which is to eat into their credibility.
Stridency and confrontation reflect the current culture of discussion.
The rules of persuasion and assertion have changed
In his classic work, Rhetoric, Aristotle named three factors that form the foundation of all speech and persuasion. They are ethos, logos and pathos, in other words the credibility, reasoning and emotions of the speaker.
Continue reading
No comments:
Post a Comment