Two recent tweets from Joanne Manaster (@sciencegoddess) which I found particularly interesting:
- The most pro-science presidents in American history. fb.me/1HwqvhFSB
- Antiscience Beliefs Jeopardize US Democracy. Great article worth your time by @ShawnOtto at @sciam fb.me/1Q271rMCK
Of particular interest to me was being reminded that Ronald Reagan was not anti-science, but was — not completely, but by-and-large — a supporter of the sciences. Yet another way in which modern so-called “conservatives” are vastly, VASTLY, different from their purported “hero.”
And, from the second tweet, the Scientific American article, this:
The Founding Fathers were science enthusiasts. Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer and scientist, built the primary justification for the nation’s independence on the thinking of Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon and John Locke—the creators of physics, inductive reasoning and empiricism. He called them his “trinity of three greatest men.” If anyone can discover the truth by using reason and science, Jefferson reasoned, then no one is naturally closer to the truth than anyone else. Consequently, those in positions of authority do not have the right to impose their beliefs on other people. The people themselves retain this inalienable right.
When’s the last time you heard a politician say something like THAT?
The problem isn’t just the rampant anti-science in our nation’s Capitol, but the willingness, nay INSISTENCE, upon foisting those anti-science beliefs — as well as other personally-held beliefs — onto the American public through legislation and otherwise…