Anti-science across the political spectrum

Interesting piece, via Michael J. Coffey.

In areas where left-wing opinions contradict scientific evidence, there’s an unfortunate tendency to suggest that such scientific research is morally problematic. This speaks to a common trope on the left: their views aren’t simply accurate, but moral. Though those on the left are quick to point to right-wing scientific illiteracy, they’re often steadfast in their refusal to recognize their own dogma.

Of course, no-one (with a few hardcore exceptions) believes that they themselves are irrational, anti-science lunatics. Everyone thinks that their viewpoint is the most rational and sensible.

There’s also considerable resistance, for example, to findings that genes significantly predict educational achievement and account for around 50% of personality. “The left-wing view is that everyone’s born the same and you can make everyone achieve the same way. From genetics research, we’ve shown that’s not true,” Saskia Selzam, a behavioral genetics researcher at King’s College-London, told me in 2016. Environment, of course, also has a huge effect on both achievement and personality, and this research shouldn’t be used to discount equal opportunity—indeed, researchers believe that understanding biological influences can engender more equality.

Never really understood why this idea was a thing, but apparently it is... I don't care how many courses you throw at me, I could never become a decent football player/musician/driver/innumerable other things.

If we know a child has a genetic risk for dyslexia, for example, it’s possible to address that disposition early on through environmental factors such as tutoring and individual support. That can eliminate the psychological distress often caused by undiagnosed dyslexia and reduce the the severity of the condition. Children who aren’t diagnosed at an early age are typically placed in classes where the teaching account for their dyslexia, and so have a much harder time at school as a result.

Presumably that's an ironic typo in the dyslexia section and that should be, "where the teaching doesn't account...

“Many people are uncomfortable with the idea that gender is not purely a social construct—and therefore malleable,” says Brenda Todd, a senior lecturer in psychology at City University London. “In reality, I believe that gendered behaviour results from an interplay between biological predispositions and social influences.” This sort of research doesn’t argue that biology dictates a strict gender binary; it rather suggests both biology and society influence what is inevitably a wide spectrum of gender identity.

Some other antiscientific views are surprisingly politically bipartisan. Skepticism about the value of vaccines and the belief that genetically modified foods are harmful—both views strongly rejected by scientists—are equally common across the political spectrum.

https://qz.com/1177154/political-scientific-biases-the-left-is-guilty-of-unscientific-dogma-too/