Quick thread:

Blame-the-scientists is a pretty common perspective in this discourse, but it ignores power.

Scientific institutions have far fewer resources to communicate and advocate than :: checks notes :: the $5.7B+ political campaign industry, for example.

Scientists can& #39;t really STOP polarization on climate or COVID. They can only mitigate.

To quote Fauci, what& #39;s he supposed to do, tackle Trump if Trump says something inaccurate and wrestle the microphone from him?

Pretty sure the Secret Service would have some thoughts.

But blame-the-scientists is an easy way to get attention, pretend to be a brave truth teller, and get some opeds published.

The only downside is it doesn& #39;t actually accomplish anything. https://medium.com/s/story/we-need-to-talk-about-reactionary-centrists-f0e6f8c4d58">https://medium.com/s/story/w...

There& #39;s never a solution here: it& #39;s always bemoaning the present and hand-waving at an ideal future state that never materializes.

Back on Earth, the rest of us are doing the work. I& #39;d ask dudes like this to join us, but they seem happier armchair quarterbacking.

Anyway. some fun questions for these dudes:

- Do you have an actual concrete plan to address this problem?

- Are you going to do anything to implement that plan?

- If you are such a politics experts, why are your hot takes not persuasive to your peers???

Oh wait a couple more...

- What percentage of your public communications work is devoted to criticizing scientists?

- Are you as accountable for your own words and actions as you seem to think other academics are whom you criticize?