There is definitely a war on science to undermine the public's respect for factual knowledge and the scientific process. The motives are two-fold. First are the greedy industries that want free rein to rape the planet without accountability. Obviously science calls them out for their crimes. Thanks to the power of highly financed corporate lobbying, there is a powerful power base from which to destroy respect for science so those industrialists can operate unfettered and not be made to repair their destructive messes.

Second is the nut-job religious, who see in science a threat to unquestioning devotion to religious authority. This second group is easily duped by the first group, and they don't even understand the most basic elements of the scientific process. Science is not "ultimate Truth," with all the moralizing value judgments that entails. They look for concrete absolute unchanging truth and so see in the rough edges of scientific discovery the chance to slam science for "not having all the answers," as if religion really did. The notions of incremental building of the scientific store of knowledge or of the essential role of peer review, requirement of follow up testing and openness to revision of understanding ...These aspects seem to fundies to be weaknesses to attack, rather that the strengths they really are.

I blame religion for this ignorance, but even more I blame the cynical Machiavellian manipulations of power-hungry, greedy corporate leaders who are NOT ignorant but ARE more than happy to exploit the ignorance of the devoutly religious by tricking them with their gullible faith into attacking science and thereby letting corporate greed off the hook.

There is definitely a war on science to undermine the public's respect for factual knowledge and the scientific process. The motives are two-time. First are the greedy industries that want free rein to rape the planet without accountability. Obviously science calls them out for their crimes. Thanks to the power of highly financed corporate lobbying, there is a powerful power base from which to destroy respect foe science so those industrialists can operate unfettered and not be made to repair their destructive messes.

Second is the nut-job religious, who see in science a threat to unquestioning devotion to religious authority. This second group is easily duped by the first group, and they don't even understand the most basic elements of the scientific process. Science is not "ultimate Truth," with all the moralizing value judgments that entails. They look for concrete absolute unchanging truth and so see in the rough edges of scientific discovery the chance to slam science for "not having all the answers," as if religion really did. The notions of incremental building of the scientific store of knowledge or of the essential role of peer review, requirement of follow up testing and openness to revision of understanding ...These aspects seem to fundies to be weaknesses to attack, rather that the strengths they really are.

I blame religion for this ignorance, but even more I blame the cynical Machiavellian manipulations of power-hungry, greedy corporate leaders who are NOT ignorant but ARE more than happy to exploit the ignorance of the devoutly religious by tricking them with their gullible faith into attacking science and thereby letting corporate greed off the hook.

I'm a scientist in the US and I'm here to sign up for the updates on this thread. There are many things involved in distrust of science, in my opinion, but I don't want to share it just yet. I would like to hear from the doubting side as well. Thank you for this post

This trend towards anti-science seems to have two many sources, one being the fore mentioned evangelical christians that feel it threatens the hold on their sheep.
The other is far worse it is the prevention of science to serve corporatism and consumerism. This could spell the end of pure science and its reliance on evidence since its sole goal becomes the profit motive. This one unlike the other is not confined to the US, Britain and Canada where social conservatives are gaining power, it is worldwide.

Science is real. USA is too science illiterate. USA doesn't honor science. USA is a laughing stock at present because of our ignorance and lack of honor. We used to be great ...not now.

I taught science 30 yrs, I remember Armstrong landing on the moon, the first heart transplant, when science was honored. Today science is non honored, too often discounted. Climate change is real but capitalists who fear loss of $ because of climate change just deny it. Pity the children.

I've seen a similar "rise", though I wonder if I've just been noticing it more readily now that I'm pursuing a scientific degree. As far as I can tell, the distrust ultimately falls back on a religious argument that the "natural man" is corrupt and anything that goes against "God's word" is influenced by Satan. Given that most scientists are atheists and their findings contradict religious accounts of such things as the flood and the creation, it is assumed that scientists seeking fame and fortune are leading a counter-religious assault of sorts.

Now, there are certainly problems with inherent biases influencing results, the need to question funding sources, the make-or-break mentality in publishing, and even the way we determine results to be publishable (the huge focus on the p-value being <0.5), but even with these problems, the scientific method is the most reliable source of truth-finding out there. We cannot consider it infallible, and we should always recognize that there are flaws and areas for improvement, but regarding scientific findings with skepticism should not lead us away from science and the scientific method entirely.

Money... the great corrupter. Haven't you noticed how easy humans sell out their soul? Scientists are not the exception. We are told about the great find 40 years ago... gave you cancer 15 years later but you don't find out in another 20 years... maybe. There are rumors of more efficient engines invented and patent bought out to stop the production same thing heard of batteries for electrical cars... more efficient and smaller in size and will not get manufactured. Remember scientists gave us Nuclear and Hydrogen bombs. Why should we trust all of them? There are Good and there are Bad and there those Without a Clue what the Hell they are Doing. With my respects to the profession.

I would say knowledge, critical thinking and rationality in general are under attack in the US and all around the world. The many intelligent posts on this thread already made the point that religion and greed rely on ignorance to succeed but one of the most telling facts is that believing a college education is actually BAD has grown to 52% among republicans.

Scientist today are paid for their results...therefore, they cannot be trusted. In our Universities we are still testing the results of smoke inhalation on dogs, Beagles are a favorite. These tests have been repeatedly funded by the government. Big problem there! I was taught if I want to read a finding, I ought to research who FUNDED it first.

My thought is: 'Why do so many mer,cains reject science'

My original answer of: 'Cause they is all thick' doesn't work anymore.

(English 'thick' = Mer,cain 'dumb'

I would certainly hope no one here feels that way, but apparently andygee does.

The war on science has been growing for several decades and is a real corrosive force in American culture. I think what spearheads it is not religion, but it is corporate and political greed for power. Education and knowledge in the public at large is seen as a threat to Machiavellian types who want to dupe the public. Science is the whistle-blower force to these cretins, and they therefore target it and demonize it to the American public. Religion becomes probably their most convenient and powerful weapon for convincing people to mistrust science. But religion is merely the servant of greed for power.

I have been watching a lots of things in the USA that show a discrimination against science. The only reason I look is because we have the same thing here and worse. Our previous Prime Minister often referred to as "the Mad Monk" did not appoint a science minister, halved the funding to out National Scientific Program, is a climate change denier, also the greatest opposition to marriage equality here, and pushed so hard to have a school chaplaincy program, non religious counselors were not allowed under this program. Our current Prime Minister seems to be almost the same guy, just a different face a wider smile. We did have a first female Prime Minister a few years ago, I didn't like her personally nor many of her policies. But the attacks on her were all for being unmarried and an atheist. Science to me is the pursuit of knowledge, if a hypothesis is dis proven, it is scrapped and another sought. It is a pity the same rules don't apply to religion, law and politics.

Wow! 10 comments and not a single unbiased user here has mentioned the publish-or -perish fueled shortcuts being taken in research, or the criminal (IMHO) editing of raw pharma data by company lawyers and execs, and the rampant charges of plagiarism. These factors must be at least a part of why science is under suspicion! Today's science has a little owning up to do.

That is because their pastors and Imams and rabbis are telling them that science is just a theory and guesses. I have two brothers who became Muslims and the rest of my family are Christians and I have friends who are Jewish. Some of them believe that the earth is flat, some of them argue about how old the earth is(6000 years old according to them). They do not believe anything that has to do with science. Brainwashing at its best,

Do you mean outside this group? The current climate in the States seems to be positively anti scientific, and I feel the USA has really shot itself in the foot. Much of their leading position in science was due to young folks from all over the planet hankering to get an education or science position in the states. Trump has turned that around. Already, I hear through the grapevine, young Asians are looking to prestigious universities and such closer to home in Singapore, India, maybe Thailand ... even China. Just yesterday the list of words to not to be used by the Department of Disease Control: fetus, transgender, vulnerability, entitlement, fact-based, and science-based. Well, good luck to them if they are supposed to ditch science- based. I think in all the mish mash of cries of "fake news" where there were none, and genuine misinformation, many people have lost trust ... in anything but "their" bubble of thought or first hand experience.

@Rufus_Maximus - You discovered this recently? Where have you been, man? There has been a continuous struggle between belief/faith and science since science began to take hold in our world. As the methodology progressed, the chasm between faith and science deepened. Granted, it has never been more pronounced than it is today, but it has had its ups and downs along the way since Charlie introduced his Origin of the Species.

A sharp turn upward occurred in the gradually increasing line of resistance to science in the mid seventies, then a distinct kink appeared in its rise when one Ronald Reagan took the throne and what evangelicals existed at the time (then mainly Southern Baptists and other Bible Belt denominations) were emboldened by their newest savior. The rise has been exponential since the 1980s. Today we are on the edge of outright fervor/panic as the End Times are upon us. There are people preparing for the Tribulation and others cashing in on the panic by selling the goods needed to endure until the Rapture comes.

I feel it is part of a bigger picture. More people are becoming disalosion with science, governments, school, church and so on. We have never had so much information at our fingertips however it as never been so easy to prove what you want to believe no matter how silly it could be. Thinking the flat earthers movement as a point in case. They think they know the truth that the world is flat. They believe everyone is out to convince them they are wrong. Government, science ect.

I sympathize with ya. When did "science" suddenly become a bad word?