Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Legal activism as one of the threats to science

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

This is not our usual beat but definitely worth noting:

One partner in this unholy alliance are activists who falsely claim that the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the products we use are all secretly killing us. They pervert scientific uncertainty to nefarious ends by magnifying hypothetical risks and downplaying relevant facts, such as level of exposure. They exploit widespread misunderstanding of science and a general hatred of “corporations” – especially those that manufacture chemicals, drugs, or consumer products – to instill fear into the public.

The other partner is the legal industry, which relies on activist scaremongering to win jackpot verdicts. They identify sympathetic patients, often suffering from cancer or some other debilitating disease, and blame their maladies on a company with deep pockets. They buy television commercials to recruit more “victims” for the inevitable class-action lawsuit.

Alex Berezow and Josh Bloom, “Activist-Legal Complex Will Destroy American Science And Industry” at American Council for Science and Health

The thing to see here is that when commentators go on about the public that doesn’t “believe in science,” Darwinism isn’t the only, um, “science” people don’t really believe in. It’s all worse than that, it seems.

Comments
Regarding, "claim that the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the products we use are all secretly killing us", the fact that life expectancy has increased in most of the world over the past century should be enough to dismiss this claim. On the other hand, if people purchase and intentionally put junk food and noxious substances into their bodies, they are in no position to take up a legal fight against the providers.Fasteddious
December 25, 2019
December
12
Dec
25
25
2019
01:15 PM
1
01
15
PM
PDT
And if they or their loved ones fall ill, most will demand the most advanced technology to diagnose the problem and the most recent and effective treatments for whatever is found to be wrong. There may be distrust in science but, when it comes right down to it, there is even less trust in the alternatives apparently/Seversky
December 20, 2019
December
12
Dec
20
20
2019
08:45 PM
8
08
45
PM
PDT
And how log was stem cell research retarded because of legal, religious and political activism?Ed George
December 20, 2019
December
12
Dec
20
20
2019
06:00 PM
6
06
00
PM
PDT
A court verdict is not a scientific conclusion.aarceng
December 20, 2019
December
12
Dec
20
20
2019
04:42 PM
4
04
42
PM
PDT

Leave a Reply