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The Compass: The Public Misunderstanding of Science: Toxic debates

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Toxic debates

20/10/2021 GMT

The Public Misunderstanding of Science

BBC World Service - The Compass, The Public Misunderstanding of Science, Toxic debates

How do conspiracy theories take root and what can be done to combat them?

Across Europe, activists fearful of 5G technology have attacked phone masts. Science journalist and former BBC Science correspondent Sue Nelson teams up with science reporter Hidde Boersma in the Netherlands to find out how conspiracy theories take root and what can be done to combat them. She also hears how scientists can improve their communication and what they have learnt from debates around climate change.

(Photo: Protesters march against 5G technology in 2019, The Hague, Netherlands. Credit: Michel Porro/Getty Images)

The Compass: The Public Misunderstanding of Science

Why have so many people given up on science?

Anti-vaxxers, flat Earthers, 5G arsonists and climate change deniers – why have so many people given up on science and where are governments, scientists and the media going wrong?

Although surveys reveal scientists are trusted – with many taking centre stage during the Covid-19 pandemic – science is often perceived as the domain of ‘experts’, the process of science is misunderstood, and scientific evidence is likened to belief.

To investigate how we can build a more scientifically literate planet – and why that might be a good idea – science journalist and former BBC Science Correspondent, Sue Nelson, teams-up with reporters in Sierra Leone, the Netherlands, and the United States.

We discover how drama and music are being used in the fight against Ebola, how space can help transform science education and why regret is a powerful weapon during vaccination campaigns. Sue also hears why science communication sometimes fails, how issues like climate change have become politicised, discovers how to reason with conspiracy theorists and why it’s perfectly okay to maintain a healthy scepticism about scientific and technological advance.

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