Not too long ago, science was just ‘science’ and fact in fact was ‘fact.’ At Trout Headwaters, science has always been the only method for establishing our team’s recommendations, techniques, and designs.  In this day when even evolution, climate change, and the safety of fluoride, are at question, it seems we are discarding science with alarming regularity. Facts are being mistaken for opinion.

National Geographic recently quoted former U.S. Geological Survey head Marcia McNutt: “Science is not a body of facts.  Science is a method for deciding whether what we choose to believe has a basis in the laws of nature or not.”

The widespread influence of the internet has empowered some to give their ‘opinion’ equal weight with the laws of nature, and use those opinions to support organized attacks on science. I’ve had a front row seat for some of this as I’ve offered debate on the notion held by some that ecological restoration is impossible. Some now question if people can actually restore the water resources or habitats which humans have damaged.

New examples on the presence and problems of science doubt have begun to appear all over in books and magazines.  Our current period recalls a time when some still discarded science in favor of belief in a flat Earth. It turns out we humans frequently cling to our intuitions, even when science tells us otherwise, and despite the fact that discarding science may have real consequences.

>Read ‘The Age of Disbelief’ via NatGeo

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/science-doubters/achenbach-text