Michael Specter: The danger of science denial

http://www.ted.com Vaccine-autism claims, "Frankenfood" bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public's growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Timothy Utley]

Unscientific? This GMO hysteria is to the left what climate change is to the right. Monsanto sucks, yes, because they are a corporate monopoly that like all corporations does whatever it can to keep its power and make profit. But in the science world, it's the anti-GMOers dishing out the bull shit.

[george chancey]

you know nothing, LMG

[hksin11186]

I think that if medical schools were sponsored tuition wouldn't be so astronomically high. Why people don't trust their doctors is because the ones who aren't bat shit insane tell them that being healthy isn't easy and don't offer the medical equal to get rich quick schemes.

[stanpeenyo]

Don't test this on me my friends or family.I want this test labeled so I have a choice

[Abu Nayzak]

If you wish to know why many people think what Mr. Specter here is saying is wrong, join me on Google+ "Open Philosophy" community. I have responded there. It's too long to fit in a Youtube comment, I'm not allowed to post the link here and I'm too busy to make a video for this :)

[Richard Turner]

Thank you, NojRel.

Thank you, Trepur349

[NojRel]

Some vitamins are water soluble. Overloading the body with vitamins doesn't do any good because the body will excrete the majority without utilizing it. Having a balanced diet is better because you'll maintain healthy levels that the body can use all day.

The main advantage of engineering vitamins into food is that many areas of the world don't have access to those wonderful, excessive pills AND don't have a diet that contains those needed levels.

[Alli Gallixsee]

I think that he makes some good points, but he is ignoring the REASON that most people fear science; because it is is the pocket of multi-national corporations. Most research (not all) is funded by large corporate interests. People no longer feel they can trust their doctors because medical schools are now sponsored by big pharma. How could we ever trust corporations? They have proven time and time again that profit is more important that human life. It's time we change the bottom line.

[Trepur349]

The problem with vitamin pills is that our body can't digest a pill properly, so we end up getting soemthing like 5% of the nutrients in the pill into our body.

Food that is high in vitamins is good for you, pills high in vitamins is not.

[Vilan Ring]

This manipulative and unscientific *scientism* garbage is just another desperate double speak adding to the smoke screen covering the corporate-bankster rape of people, nature and economy. Fortunately cheap propaganda can never replace the factual realities of life. People are waking up all over the world and will not buy into this scraps and glass beads rhetorics anymore. This clown should apply for a job at Monsanto, that's where he belongs.