Sense and Sensitivity

This quote by the great biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky, even though old, is still actual and applicable to fight fake news, misinformation, pseudosciences and scientific exclusion.

The attractiveness of science to many people lies in that it seems to answer the indestructible yearling for certainty so complete that no thinking mind can evade its acceptance. We like to believe that if we secure adequate data bearing on a scientific problem, then anybody with normal intelligence who takes the trouble to become acquainted with these data will necessarily arrive at the same conclusion regarding the problem in question. We like to speak of conclusions demonstrated, settled, proved and established. It appears, however, that no evidence is powerful enough to force acceptance of a conclusion that is emotionally distasteful.

Theodosius Dobzhansky*

It is important for scientists to understand, and be constantly reminded, that science is not enough to sensibilize people. If we don’t touch people’s emotions with science, reason will be of little use to us.

Moreover, because people are different on their tolerance to risk and sacrifice, if there are no incentives to follow a particular strategy or to pursue the truth, the scientific argument alone is not enough to convince or to induce a particular behaviour or change in attitude.

*With this paragraph he concludes his review of FL Marsh’s book ‘Evolution, Creation and Science’. The review was published in The American Naturalist 79 (780): 73-75. 1945.

This content was originally published in Portuguese in the ‘Você que é biólogo…’ blog 10th jun, 2009