Michael Specter has written a book with a message that is long overdue. That’s not to say that I agree with everything in this book. But it is a topic we need to discuss as a nation and as a culture.
The subtitle of the book is, “How irrational thinking hinders scientific progress, harms the planet, and threatens our lives.” The book argues that we’ve become so distrustful of institutions, especially for-profit institutions like pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies, and agri-business, that we now have a negative reaction to anything they say. Specter argues that it is fine to have a critical mind and demand explanations, but we’ve gone crazy with bad science and feel-good solutions to our lives.
For instance, the topics in the book include vaccines (he says it’s crazy not to have your kids vaccinated), organic food (yes it’s better tasting but it’s not really any better for you), vitamins (they do no good at all), and gene splicing of food (we’ve been doing it for decades and it has fed the world so don’t fret about it). You get the idea. He’s tackling issues that are highly controversial and sure to lead to a lot of arguments. I hate to say it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets death threats. Just go to the amazon.com review (click the photo below) and you’ll see how the reviews are all over the map.
Do I agree with everything in the book? No. But the author makes an excellent point about how we are often still a nation of snake-oil buying anti-science goofs. And that will lead to serious problems if we don’t begin to educate people well enough so they can make an informed decision. It’s well worth reading.
