A Goodreads user asked Carl Zimmer:

What's your greatest fear about the attack on science?

Carl Zimmer These days, attacks on science take certain forms, focused on certain things: climate change, evolution, and vaccines seem to top the list. These attacks are in a number of cases well-funded campaigns, and some politicians are backing some of them for their own political ends. Each particular case is concerning. Spreading misinformation about vaccines to worried parents leads to children getting sick in needless outbreaks, and even puts them at risk of death.

But there's another threat, a broader one, from these particular attacks: they can erode people's understanding of how science works in general. If people come to see science as just someone else's opinion, rather than a powerful way of knowing based on evidence, then all sorts of trouble may arise.

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