Falsfréttir um loftslagsbreytingar: Áskoranir vísinda í heimi eftirsannleikans

Stephan Lewandowsky, prófessor í sálfræði við Háskólann í Bristol, flytur erindi í Háskóla Íslands föstudaginn 31. maí kl. 12-14 í stofu HT-101 á Háskólatorgi. Erindið ber yfirskriftina „Falsfréttir um loftslagsbreytingar: Áskoranir vísinda í heimi eftirsannleikans“ og öllum opið.

Í erindi sínu mun Lewandowsky fjalla bæði um hliðar framboðs og eftirspurnar þegar kemur að afneitun á loftslagsbreytingum og falsfréttir tengdar því. Hann fer yfir það hvernig skipulögð miðlun falsupplýsinga fer fram á vegum pólitískra afla og aðila sem eiga hagsmuna að gæta og hvernig fjölmiðlar bregðast við slíkri afbökun á upplýsingaumhverfinu. Þá mun Lewandowsky fjalla um þá þætti sem valda því að fólk hafnar loftlagsvísindum og kýs fremur að samþykkja málflutning þeirra sem afneita loftslagsbreytingum út frá hinu pólítíska litrófi.

Nánari upplýsingar um efni erindisins á ensku.

I examine both the “supply side” and “demand side” of climate denial and the associated “fake news”. On the supply side I report the evidence for the organized dissemination of disinformation by political operatives and vested interests, and how the media respond to these distortions of the information landscape. On the demand side, I explore the variables that drive people’s rejection of climate science and lead them to accept denialist talking points, with a particular focus on the issue of political symmetry. The evidence seems to suggest that denial of science is primarily focused on the political right, across a number of domains, even though there is cognitive symmetry between left and right in many other situations. Why is there little evidence to date of any association between left-wing political views and rejection of scientific evidence or expertise. I focus on Merton’s (1942) analysis of the norms of science, such as communism and universalism, which continue to be internalized by the scientific community, but which are not readily reconciled with conservative values. Two large-scale studies (N>2,000 altogether) show that people’s political and cultural worldviews are associated with their attitudes towards those scientific norms, and that those attitudes in turn predict people’s acceptance of scientific. The norms of science may thus be in latent conflict with a substantial segment of the public. Finally, I survey the options that are available to respond to this fraught information and attitude landscape, focusing on consensus communication and psychological inoculation.

Erindi Stephan Lewandowsky er á ensku.