"The Study of Science Leads to Leftward Leanings"

[applegrove]

The Study of Science Leads to Leftward Leanings
By Tom Jacobs at Pacific Standard Magazine

http://www.psmag.com/navigation/politics-and-law/study-science-promotes-leftward-leanings-93350/

"SNIP....................


Will clearly perceives scientists as untrustworthy, their conclusions skewed by self-interest and preconceived notions. While this view is obviously self-serving—he really should check out the psychological notion of projection—it raises disturbing questions about whether science has become hopelessly politicized.

So are scientists—as conservatives suspect—more likely to be liberals? Recently published research suggests they are, but—contrary to the implication left by Will and his colleagues—this is not because political progressives are more intrinsically inclined than right-wingers to choose a scientific career.

Rather, according to a research team led by Harvard University psychologist Christine Ma-Kellams, immersion in the world of science tends to shifts students’ attitudes toward the left side of the political spectrum.

“Relative to those studying non-sciences, students in the sciences exhibited greater political liberalism across a variety of domains (including foreign policy, health care, and the economy) and a variety of social issues (gay marriage, affirmative action), as well as in general self-reported liberalism.”

Specifically, they report adopting a scientific mindset makes one less likely to endorse a hierarchy-based ideology in which one group of people is considered superior to another—an attitude that has been strongly linked to political conservatism.




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[JEFF9K]

1. A Pew Research study found that 55% of scientists called themselves Democrats ...

while only 6% called themselves Republicans.

I kept mentioning it in online conversations. Some conservatives came back with the comment that all scientists work for the government and that's why they are Democrats. I found another chart within the study showing that even in private industry Democratic scientists outnumbered Republicans by nearly five to one.

So I made a little video showing both charts and adding some "jokes" and opinions.

[BillZBubb]

2. Pretty simple really: In science, you are trained to follow the facts and filter out the noise.

You can't do that and be a conservative.