#059 - Why People Reject Evidence, According to Matthew Facciani

Consumed – Movie Review

Are we too old for all this GMO shit? Microblogganism and Cal certainly aren’t as they look at the 2016 anti-gmo drama “Consumed”. Intended as an examination of concerns over GMO’s, the film instead plays like one woman’s descent into madness. Featuring “GMO cops” whose sole job it is to drive aggressively near people, a thinly veiled mega corporation called Monsanto Clonestra. Monsanto  Clonestra is one evil, evil bunch of dudes lawsuits included!. Danny Glover stars as a good ole timey organic farmer relentlessly pursued by Monsanto Clonestra for cross pollination and he’s sure chemtrails are in use because of reasons.

Food Science Institute review: https://foodscienceinstitute.com/2016/03/09/consumed-the-movie-a-misinformed-anti-gmo-thriller/

Watch Consumed on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80105697

Follow MicroBlogganism: https://www.youtube.com/user/MicroBlogganism

Why People Reject Evidence, According to Matthew Facciani

What are some of the social and psychological factors which lead people to reject evidence that conflicts with their worldview? Joining us to tackle this and related questions is Matthew Facciani. Currently working on a PhD in sociology at the University of South Carolina, Matthew is an activist, speaker, and writer who teaches psychological statistics at USC. He received his B.A. in Psychology at Westminster College. Before switching into sociology, Matthew was working on a PhD in cognitive neuroscience. He currently writes for Patheos with his blog titled According to Matthew and hosts a podcast of the same name.

Links:

Matthew Facciani on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewFacciani

Matthew Facciani’s website: http://www.matthewfacciani.com/

Matthew Facciani, “The Science of Why We Reject Science and What We Can Do about It,” http://www.patheos.com/blogs/accordingtomatthew/2016/08/the-science-of-why-we-reject-science-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/.

What is the public not understanding about GM foods that creates the significant gap between scientists and the public in how each views biotechnology? What are the science and public-policy benefits of widespread use of biotechnology in food and medicine that naysayers are not accounting for? And in what ways does embracing science and calling out fear-based myths impact justice and democracy?

Joining us as a special guest on this episode to discuss these questions is author, writer, and science activist Kavin Senapathy. Co-founder and director of the international, pro-science, and pro-biotech movement March Against Myths, Kavin communicates to the public on science topics ranging from health, medicine, biotechnology, agriculture and food. She’s co-author of the book “The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House,” which discusses popular food misconceptions and why they proliferate despite evidence against them. As a mom to two children, Kavin often tackles health and nutrition misinformation targeted at parents. She’s a regular contributor to Forbes, with work frequently appearing in outlets like Slate, Gawker, Grounded Parents and more.

Links

Follow Kavin Senapathy on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ksenapathy

Kavin Senapathy, “The Anti-GMO Movement Has a Social Justice Problem,” https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2017/11/20/the-anti-gmo-movement-has-a-social-justice-problem/#23f030c23a54

Kavin’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Babe-Shattering-Haris-Glass/dp/069250981X

Science Moms documentary: http://www.sciencemomsdoc.com/

SciMoms website: http://www.scimoms.com/who-are-we/

On the gap between scientists’ and the public’s views on GMOs: Cary Funk and Lee Rainie, “Public and Scientists’ Views on Science and Society,” Pew Research Center, January 29, 2015, http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/.

What is race? Where did the concept of biological races come from, and does it make any logical or scientific sense? What does the history of human migration, invention, and conquest really teach us about the role of race in shaping human civilization? Why are racial stereotypes so powerful in society, and what can we do to effectively challenge racism?

In this episode, we tackle these questions with special guest Guy P. Harrison, journalist and author of the 2010 book “Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity.” We talk about both the science and the social issues surrounding race and diversity, correcting the false assumptions and popular misconceptions that lead many people to think that biological race defines and divides humanity. The reality turns out not to be that simple.

Links:

Guy P. Harrison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Harrisonauthor

Guy P. Harrison’s website: http://www.guypharrison.com/

“Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity”: https://www.amazon.com/Race-Reality-Everyone-Biological-Diversity/dp/1591027675

American Anthropological Association (AAA) “Statement on Race”: www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm

American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) “Statement on Biological Aspects of Race”: http://physanth.org/about/position-statements/biological-aspects-race/

CGP Grey’s videos summarizing key arguments in Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEYh5WACqEk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOmjnioNulo

C0nc0rdance, “Do Human Races Exist?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrKrGkgeww4

C0nc0rdance, “The Science of Human Races” Parts 1 and 2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teyvcs2S4mI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVmj8dDx9yY

The Hormone Myth –

How many times have you heard a woman be dismissed as “hormonal”, or her rationality be questioned, because of assumed endocrine imbalance? Chances are you’ve heard the phrases “on the rag” or “PMSing” used to put someone down, or been witness to jokes about that “time of the month” where “women get moody” etc.

In this episode, our special guest Robyn Stein DeLuca, author of The Hormone Myth: How Junk Science, Gender Politics, and Lies About PMS Keep Women Down, joins Natalie and Jenna to discuss whether hormone fluctuations really play such a huge role in women’s behaviour. We talk post-natal depression, the menstrual cycle, social conditioning and behavioural assumptions, gender bias & perceptions and how much hormones really play a role in our cognitive variance.

Links:

Robyn Stein DeLuca on Twitter: HTTPS://Twitter.com/RSDeLuca Robyn’s Website: http://delucainsight.com/ The Hormone Myth book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hormone-Myth-Science-Gender-Politics/dp/1626255091 The Good News About PMS – TEDx Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/robyn_stein_deluca_the_good_news_about_pms

What can a reincarnating Time Lord who gallivants across time and space in a 1950s-era police box whilst battling evil robots and aliens teach us about real-world science? To answer this question, Nathan, Jenn, and Cal are joined by Simon Guerrier, a documentary filmmaker, science fiction writer, and Whovian, to discuss the ideas in his book “The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who,” co-authored with astronomer Marek Kukula.

In what ways does the Doctor in his various incarnations exemplify the scientific method in action? Has the life of science imitated the art of Doctor Who in any way? What is the source of the TARDIS’s power, and what does the Eye of Harmony have to do with black holes? What laws of time obtain in the Doctor Who universe, and do any of these in-universe laws conflict with what physicists know about time? How many episodes of Doctor Who are lost and/or missing, and how many have been recovered by dedicated, treasure-hunting Whovians? Can Simon Guerrier help us decipher and understand the 1989 “Ghost Light” episode? And what’s the deal with those knife-wielding, badger-faced space pirates?

Links:

Simon Guerrier on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0tralala

Simon Guerrier’s blog: http://0tralala.blogspot.co.uk/

“The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who” book: https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Secrets-Doctor-Who/dp/0062386964

“Wiped! Doctor Who's Missing Episodes” by Richard Molesworth: https://www.amazon.com/Wiped-Doctor-Whos-Missing-Episodes/dp/1845830806

Simon Guerrier’s Doctor Who novels:

• “The Time Travellers”: (BBC Past Doctor Adventures #74): http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Time_Travellers_(novel)
• “The Pirate Loop” (BBC New Series Adventures #20): http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Pirate_Loop_(novel)
• “The Slitheen Excursion (BBC New Series Adventures #32)”: http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Slitheen_Excursion_(novel)

In this episode of Trolling with Logic, the crew takes a hard look at the magical world of young-earth creationism, as envisioned by everyone’s favorite creationist Kent Hovind. Before spending the last decade in federal prison for tax fraud and evasion, Hovind was a traveling evangelist preaching creationism and attacking evolution, armed with wacky strawmen. There’s no shortage of weird and wonderful nonsense to unravel on this fascinating tour through the mind of a creationist: An Earth that’s 4,499,994,000 years younger than it looks (because scientists, like the IRS, are apparently agents of Satan), dinosaurs living with humans who live to be hundreds of years old, a global flood via magical comet, anti-government conspiracy theories, a single drop of water that can cover the whole Earth if you just spread it thin enough, and more.

Links:

Hovind’s “doctoral dissertation”: https://wlstorage.net/file/kent-hovind-doctoral-dissertation.pdf.

Hovind’s “debate” with evolutionary biologist Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, moderated by Reginald Finley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphxOs5YFcY.

Tracey Holley, “Evolution is the Root of All Evil: An Examination of the Paranoid Style of Creation Science Evangelism,” http://www.ijessnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2.pdf.

Dave E. Matson, “How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments? A Close Look at Dr. Hovind’s List of Young-Earth Arguments and Other Claims,” http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood.html.

Trolling with Logic host Nathan Dickey wrote this 50-page deconstruction of Hovind’s “dissertation”: https://tinyurl.com/y7mvfg8c.

Ronald L. Numbers’ book about the history and evolution of the creationist movement (recommended by Nathan): https://www.amazon.com/Creationists-Scientific-Creationism-Intelligent-Expanded/dp/0674023390.

In this episode, the Trolling with Logic crew reviews the 2012 sci-fi travesty “Prometheus,” aka “Erich von Däniken’s Wet Dream.” It’s the prequel to the classic sci-fi horror “Alien” franchise, but this time it’s not a wonderful Lovecraftian tale of blood, terror, entropy, and female empowerment. Instead, “Prometheus” is about an over-expository, scientifically-illiterate mess of a movie that features a spaceship full of god-botherers who don’t understand how carbon-dating works and a misanthropic android who embark on a voyage to a distant planet to unravel the mystery of where humans came from. To discover the answer, which would make even Michael Tellinger blush in embarrassment, our heroes must discover for themselves the spiritual joy of natural xeno-child birth. And also the terror of only being able to run in a straight line when running from a rolling donut-shaped alien spacecraft.

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