What exactly is science? It's something that philosophers have grappled with quite a bit. Well, the good news is that you don't have to have a philosophical understanding of the foundation of science to understand science.

Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an Instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School.

He is the author of many many books, including “How to Talk to a Science Denier,” Post-Truth, and The Scientific Attitude.

He sits down with Greg to look at science from a philosophical angle. They discuss flat earthers, anti-vaxxers and disinformation on the internet, paradigm shifts, the politicization of everything and becoming a philosopher of science.

Episode Quotes:

The problem with misinformation and science denial

It's that it polarizes us and demonizes the other side. It creates a us versus them dynamic around empirical issues, so that we literally fall into, you know, and different teams and hate the people on the other side. And that gives scientists an impossible task to do good science communication.

Science denial isn't new

Science denial has been around for as long as science has. And I don't think anybody with a straight face can say that science denial is worse now than it was in Galileo's time.

More on science deniers

They think of themselves as being more scientific than the scientists. More open-minded and more skeptical at the same time. That they're really the rigorous thinkers and that scientists are biased.

Show Links:

Recommended Resources:

Guest Profile:

His Work:

Lee McIntyre on Google Scholar
How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason
The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience
Post-Truth
The Art of Good and Evil
Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)
The Sin Eater
Respecting Truth: Willful Ignorance in the Internet Age
Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior

Science Denial and the Scientific Attitude feat. Lee McIntyre

unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc

Science Denial and the Scientific Attitude feat. Lee McIntyre