Dreamstime imageYou
hear a lot about the politicization of science, but the real
problem is the moralization of science. New York
University psychologist Jonathan Haidt has made a compelling case
that moral differences drive partisan debates over scientific
issues. Dan Kahan and others at the Yale Cultural Cognition Project
have identified cultural differences that bias how people
assimilate information. Together, Haidt and Kahan’s research
suggests that what you believe about a scientific debate signals to
like-minded people that you are on their side and are therefore a
good and trustworthy person. Unfortunately, this means that the
factual accuracy of beliefs is somewhat incidental to the process
of moral signaling. Reason Science Correspondent Ronald
Bailey tries to separate the is from the ought in
several current science policy fights.

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