Michael Mann on the 'Anti-Science' Movement and 'Science Under Siege'

The 'Anti-Science' Infrastructure

• 💡 The book 'Science Under Siege' identifies a massive anti-science infrastructure that promotes misinformation.
• 🎯 This infrastructure is funded by a small group of bureaucrats, including figures like Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers, who support think tanks promoting climate denial and antivax propaganda.
• 🚀 Social media platforms, like Twitter under Elon Musk, have algorithms that can promote misinformation and suppress scientific information.

Problematic 'Ps' in Science Discourse

• 📌 The book outlines five problematic groups: bureaucrats, proates (nations reliant on fossil fuels like the US), professionals (paid talking heads and bots), propagandists, and the press.
• 🗣️ Professionals and propagandists are the individuals on the front lines, spreading anti-science talking points fostered by bureaucrats and proates.

The Role of the Press and Media

• 📰 The conservative press, particularly the Murdoch media empire, has played a significant role in spreading climate denialism.
• ⚖️ Even legacy media outlets like The New York Times and Washington Post are criticized for engaging in 'performative neutrality,' platforming pseudoscientific theories like the lab leak theory for COVID-19.
• 📉 This erosion of a shared factual basis makes it difficult to address critical issues like climate change and pandemics.

Concerns within the Trump Administration

• ⚠️ Concerns are raised about figures like RFK Jr. heading Health and Human Services, promoting an antivaccine stance that undermines public health measures.
• 📉 This administration's policies are seen as leading to a movement away from vaccination and essential public health strategies needed to combat current and future pandemics.