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1. Ars Technica (arstechnica@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 06:53:37 JST Ars Technica

   Nearly half of US thinks scientists are smug; study finds humility helps
   Intellectual humility could win back much-needed trust in science, study finds
   https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/11/nearly-half-of-us-thinks-scientists-are-smug-study-finds-humility-helps/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

   • Urzl (gooba42@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 07:06:28 JST Urzl

     in reply to

     @arstechnica What if science wasn't subject to being vibe checked by the dumbest people on Earth?

   • Impish4249 (impish4249@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 07:11:07 JST Impish4249

     in reply to

     @arstechnica

     Humility is _so_ necessary to being believable and opening trust. The truth is that the smartest among us is still ignorant of many things (and let's be clear, I'm far from the smartest). I think that our educational system needs a lot of improvements

     * critical thinking in middle & high school
     * effective communications for technical types

     are near the top of my list.

   • suzune (nakal@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 07:29:07 JST suzune

     in reply to

     @arstechnica Let me guess. Someone couldn't convince a scientist to fix their printer.

   • bondolo (bondolo@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 08:29:49 JST bondolo

     in reply to

     @arstechnica of course there are smug scientists but they are vastly outnumbered by anti-science know-nothing reactionaries. “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” - Issac Asimov

   • encyclops (encyclops@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 09:59:27 JST encyclops

     in reply to

     @arstechnica actually what I’m seeing here is that it’s not science but journalism about science that’s creating the problem, if there even is one. It sounds like what’s being asked for is that when we present the findings of a study, we should always cite the author as adding, “of course, it’s possible that your aunt’s neighbor’s son’s YouTube channel about UFO sightings might be correct about COVID instead.”

   • Basil (zestybasilpizza@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 13:10:08 JST Basil

     in reply to

     @arstechnica
     Look. Most people in the US do not interact with scientists. They do not interact with the direct work of scientists. On a good day, they read or watch the work of reporters who spoke to scientists and talk about their findings.

     More often, people interact with media lauding fringe studies or lampooning actual academics to make a point they were going to make regardless of where the facts pointed.

     Scientists don't need humility. They just need better communication channels.

   • ngrbdx (ngrbdx@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Nov-2024 13:27:40 JST ngrbdx

     in reply to

     @arstechnica if they would not have elected Trump this could have been believable but please be serious now. It is just an excuse. They are rejecting reality and facts and they are not even honest.