Some Fear Ebola Outbreak Could Make Nation Turn to Science

[iandhr]

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—There is a deep-seated fear among some Americans that an Ebola outbreak could make the country turn to science.

In interviews conducted across the nation, leading anti-science activists expressed their concern that the American people, wracked with anxiety over the possible spread of the virus, might desperately look to science to save the day.

“It’s a very human reaction,” said Harland Dorrinson, a prominent anti-science activist from Springfield, Missouri. “If you put them under enough stress, perfectly rational people will panic and start believing in science.”

Additionally, he worries about a “slippery slope” situation, “in which a belief in science leads to a belief in math, which in turn fosters a dangerous dependence on facts.”

At the end of the day, though, Dorrinson hopes that such a doomsday scenario will not come to pass. “Time and time again through history, Americans have been exposed to science and refused to accept it,” he said. “I pray that this time will be no different.”

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/fear-ebola-outbreak-make-nation-turn-science

[merrily]

1. I think people who are antiscience will turn to prayer or rabbit's feet or

stay in fear or whatever, Maybe they'll wash their hands more, but I doubt the religious right nation is going to turn its lonely eyes to science in general because of this. A lot of them were still looking for the second coming as the millennium ended, same as 1000 years earlier.

[FSogol]

2. K & R. n/t

[underpants]

3. Borowitz basically nails the RW noise decrying the CDC

[Fred Sanders]

4. Science is my religion, it is more comforting than the fairy tales. The science makes me not panic,

and I am an adult, the fairy tale fears of the media are meant for grown up children.

[hifiguy]

12. "Science flies you to the moon and back.

Religion flies you into buildings." - Victor Stenger

[Javaman]

5. Don't worry.

there is a whole cadre of morons out there coming up with any number of reasons to avoid using science.

for example: I know someone that works in the whole foods health and whole body dept. And there already is a number of people asking for "natural" remedies for Ebola.

So we are already back to putting "posies" in you pocket to ward off the plague.

[Voice for Peace]

14. I don't think it's an either/or situation. Western Science and traditional knowledge don't

need to negate each other. They should be working together
and learning from each other.

Here's an interesting article:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/black-death-survivors-and-their-descendants-went-on-to-live-longer/

The Black Death, a plague that first devastated Europe in the 1300s, had a silver lining. After the ravages of the disease, surviving Europeans lived longer, a new study finds.

[oldandhappy]

6. Headline is my best laugh of the morning so far!

[tecelote]

7. I thought it was the Onion.

Let's all pray Ebola goes away.

That should work better than developing a vaccine.

[xocet]

8. I'm sticking with holy water, garlic and silver bullets.... n/t

[Cryptoad]

9. Nah,,,,,

America is already infected with a far worst disease than Ebola,,,terminal Stupidity!

[grahamhgreen]

10. Hopefully, it will keep the wacko right home from the poles.

[mmonk]

16. Do they hate them too?

[Roy Rolling]

11. Science?

Do mobs with pitchforks and flaming torches count as science?

[ffr]

13. I've been getting pushback from the RWNJs here. They think science is a religion.

Um, no. Science is based on deductive thought process, where you start with empirical observed phenomena (data) to form a testable conclusion based on that data.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. Rush Limbaugh for one