Cranks Piggyback on the Work of Engineers and Scientists

How can we set a good example to support real research on social media?

"Young man rides piggyback on an old man" by simpleinsomnia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The people who designed sophisticated camera phones, high-speed internet links and websites like YouTube have often been taken by surprise by amateurs who use these tools to spread anti-vaccination speculation, bleach drinking cults and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

The spread of pseudo-research on the internet is an unintended consequence of these amazing new communication tools. The best way to see the issue is as cranks piggybacking on the work of real researchers without pausing to learn the principles of real research first. Of source, it only goes one way. Science hasn’t hitched a ride on the back of cranks since Isaac Newton - the founder of modern physics - dabbled in alchemy around 300 years ago.

Many of the people who provided the incredible tech that has emerged in recent decades are engineers. The engineering design process is grounded in the scientific method and has parallels to it. It involves widespread testing, paying particular attention to negative results and feedback from peers. This helps engineers move beyond their intuitions to attain a deeper view as they develop solutions that actually work and can create value for others. The approach is deeply numerate, with engineers nowadays using algorithms and sophisticated statistics to navigate massive amounts of data.

The cranks are much less numerate, to put it politely. They also trust their emotions much more than engineers; and are quick to deploy conspiracy theories as the bodyguards to ideas that are failing fast after coming into contact with the outside world. They tend to be too distrustful of expertise and invent their own strange methodologies to give them the results they want to see.

Science writer and astronomer Carl Sagan (who requested the famous pale blue dot photograph from the Voyager 1 space probe) discussed the appeal of pseudo-research in one of his last books in 1995, just before he died. He describes meeting a man who was very excited by narratives about frozen aliens, techniques to read the minds of dead people, crystal energy, Nostradamus, astrology, the shroud of Turin, Atlantis and so on.

In every case, Sagan repeated the same message: “The evidence is crummy… There’s a much simpler explanation.” When he noticed his conversation partner getting increasingly miserable, he tried to get him excited about real science by telling him about the molecular building blocks of life forming in outer space, the footprints of our distant ancestors being preserved in volcanic ash, the Himalayas emerging after India crashed into Asia, how viruses slip past our defence systems, the discovery of the ancient civilization of Ebla and quantum indeterminacy.

In each case, Sagan’s conversation partner had never heard about any of the credible research into real-world mysteries. The astronomer mulled the fact that real skepticism doesn’t sell well to the general public. He said that 95% of Americans are scientifically illiterate. The media deserves some of the blame for publicizing crank claims at times while ignoring more credible research. Sagan said that bad science tends to drive out good science. It is more emotionally appealing, even though it gives us less sustenance.

I imagine that few of the readers of Sharpen Your Axe are engineers or scientists, although there will no doubt be some honourable exceptions. What can the rest of us do to support science and skepticism in a world where gurus who specialize in utter certainty are keen to hitch a ride on the backs of people who happily throw away ideas that don’t work?

My suggestion would be to make an effort to follow scientists, scientific publications and engineers on social media. When your friends get excited about pseudo-research, try to steer the conversation towards methodology instead of arguing about conclusions, which will only provoke cognitive dissonance. Also, if you know any young people who are enthusiastic about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), encourage their interest!

Finally, even those of us who aren’t engineers or scientists can set an example by showing radical humility and seeking to develop other intellectual virtues. We might be wrong! What can we do to bring our ideas closer to the world outside our heads? The comments are open. See you next week!

Further Reading

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Sharpen Your Axe is a project to develop a community who want to think critically about the media, conspiracy theories and current affairs without getting conned by gurus selling fringe views. Please subscribe to get this content in your inbox every week. Shares on social media are appreciated!

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