
{"id":71490,"date":"2018-06-29T10:43:46","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T08:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/forskning-og-faktaresistens-paa-folkemoedet\/"},"modified":"2018-06-29T12:56:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T10:56:15","slug":"whats-the-use-of-research-if-we-dont-buy-into-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/whats-the-use-of-research-if-we-dont-buy-into-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the use of research if we don\u2019t buy into it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Crowds trickle in and out of the Port of Allinge on the Danish island of Bornholm, the site of The People\u2019s Political Festival 2018 (Folkem\u00f8det). People make their way to fresh debates taking place in tents, where they can listen to speakers they agree with and those they can\u2019t stand.<\/p>\n<p>In his opening speech in the \u201cCircus Square\u201d, Danish Prime Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen said that part of the raison d\u2019etre and spirit of Folkem\u00f8det is that people listen to each other, especially those they do not agree with. The PM himself debated with the head of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, Lizette Risgaard, and former Socialist People\u2019s Party Politician \u00a0\u00d6zlem Cekic.<\/p>\n<p>But is the PM\u2019s vision realistic?<\/p>\n<p>In the UCPH debate <em>Why does science lose to beliefs?<\/em>, philosophy professor Klemens Kappel said that people presented with contradictory research within a politically-heated topic will set aside facts that challenge their worldview and lean towards conclusions which support it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not blindly trust research. This can explain why a large share of the population is concerned about the HPV vaccine even though scientists endorse it and also why half of the republicans in the US have denounced climate change as a scam. And why so many of us believe that wolves are fatal to human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nyheder.ku.dk\/alle_nyheder\/2017\/12\/filosoffer-skal-undersoege-uvilje-mod-nye-genteknologier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kappel has been grated DKK 10 million by the Novo Nordisk Fund to investigate skepticism around GM crops<\/a>&#8211; a scepticism, which continues to thrive despite the research and not because of it.<\/p>\n<h3>The problem lies in our heads<\/h3>\n<p>The value of scientific evidence has been further dismantled in the era of social media, where the value of facts is diminishing, while the election of US president Donald Trump and the Brexit were a revolt against traditional authority structures.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Those who doubt are the true democrats<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Kasper M\u00f8ller Hansen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>During the debate, professor Kasper M\u00f8ller Hansen painted a gloomy picture and lamented the erosion of traditional media in a digital media landscape.<\/p>\n<p>However, after the debate Kappel said that he does not subscribe to these doomsday predictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScientific scepticism is a localised phenomenon, because humans believe the majority of research. But there are some specific, loaded topics which are highly polarised, and where research struggles to trump the recipient\u2019s ideology or identity. It isn\u2019t because people are stupid or that the researchers have lost authority. It is more an expression of politically-motivated cognition,\u201d says Kappel from under a sunhat, as he strolls away from the UCPH tent and towards the busy streets of the harbour.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kappel, it is not (just) social media\u2019s fault. When we reject scientific findings which challenge our identity and worldview it is more likely because of certain mechanisms in our head &#8211; mechanisms which paradoxically, only become stronger as we search for new knowledge and formulate our own viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who doubt are the true democrats,\u201d as M\u00f8ller Hansen put it with a smile during the debate.<\/p>\n<p>The question is, how do you challenge something so inherent in humans?<\/p>\n<p>When putting forward potential solutions, Kappel stresses that there is no catch-all fix.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not believe that you can convince people to put their ideology aside. And generally I think it is a somewhat open empirical question as to which approach will work. But we know that it works to put people in specific groups where they discuss with people they do not ideologically agree with. In fact, this has a moderating effect,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Another thing which has proved to work is boosting people\u2019s identity. Identity-affirming information makes us more willing to accept conclusions which threaten our identity.<br \/>\n<!-- end of module 1 --><br \/>\nFor example, with the help of a survey you can find out what values are important to a test subject. If they rank friendship highly then you ask a range of questions about its value. Then, you expose them to evidence which contradicts their worldview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this instance, test subjects have proved to be more receptive, because their identity-confirming values were forefront in their minds,\u201d says Kappel, while he turns away from the crowds milling about the harbour and steps onto one of Allinge\u2019s steep hills.<\/p>\n<h2>Climate challenges as a business opportunity<\/h2>\n<p>However, it is rare that we boost our identity or seek out groups of people we don\u2019t agree with before we receive new information. Kappel acknowledges that overall it is difficult to know whether the strategy works beyond the lab.<\/p>\n<p>In an ideal world, you would avoid subjects becoming polarised &#8211; and that is not a simple task.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is difficult, and I am aware that there is no robust evidence in the area,\u201d says Kappel, pausing briefly. \u201cBut there was a discussion around abortion access in France, where one way to reduce polarisation was to find certain ways of arguing which both resistors and advocates could see themselves in. In the same way, you can present climate challenges as a business opportunity instead of something which demands state regulation. That could end up attracting more US republicans, for example. In this way, we get different perspectives on the challenge, but because they play into our identity then the facts in the debate become depoliticized.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Yes, I am a definite optimist. When people say that we are facts-resistant, that isn\u2019t true. \u00a0We are that way in some specific subject areas. And that is overall short-lived<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Klemens Kappel<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, he stresses that responsibility cannot solely be placed on researchers and rejects the idea that authors of scientific articles in highly politicized areas should be compelled to consider audience more closely in this manner when forming research questions.<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, the biggest responsibility lies with public speakers, who attack scientific facts for the sake of winning. Such as when Trump says climate change is a hoax or when certain Danish politicians suggest wolves are humanity\u2019s greatest enemy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey need to stop politicizing facts. They are often the ones who are to blame when a topic becomes politicized and they need to take a greater responsibility. But that is not easy to control,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p><em>Basically, you say that it is difficult to implement concrete solutions in the real world. Is there a reason to be anything other than a pessimist?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I am a definite optimist. When people say that we are facts-resistant, that isn\u2019t true. \u00a0We are that way in some specific subject areas. And that is overall short-lived. If you look at the discussion around artificially modified crops in 1983, it was just as politicized as other topics are today. But that has been completely forgotten today, and I believe it will also go this way with current debates. Politicization emerges when the evidence interferes with our values, but contingent conditions may cause that, and they can disappear again,\u201d he says, concluding:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe we are making a mistake by focusing on those instances where there is strong polarisation and then we make generalisations out of them. We need to look at the entire spectrum of situations &#8211; in 98 percent of cases, the topics are neither politicized or polarised. So we need to understand what makes certain topics go that way. That is part of what we hope to achieve via our research project.\u201d<br \/>\n<!-- end of module 2 --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two UCPH professors tried to find solutions to address fact denial &#8211; from climate change to HPV vaccines &#8211; at a popular debate at The People\u2019s Political Festival 2018. We caught up with one of the speakers, Klemens Kappel, after the debate and asked him to elaborate.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":70454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1376,1377],"class_list":["post-71490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-faktaresistens-en","tag-klemens-kappel-en","expression-feature_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fact denial \u2013 What\u2019s the use of research if we don\u2019t buy into it?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two UCPH professors tried to find solutions to address fact denial - from climate change to HPV vaccines - at a popular debate at The People\u2019s Political Festival 2018. 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08:32:44","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-480x270.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":270,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-1280x720.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-290x163.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":163,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-700x394.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":394,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-990x557.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":557}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Philosopher at UCPH Klemens Kappel"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Political Festival","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Crowds trickle in and out of the Port of Allinge on the Danish island of Bornholm, the site of The People\u2019s Political Festival 2018 (Folkem\u00f8det). People make their way to fresh debates taking place in tents, where they can listen to speakers they agree with and those they can\u2019t stand.<\/p>\n<p>In his opening speech in the \u201cCircus Square\u201d, Danish Prime Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen said that part of the raison d\u2019etre and spirit of Folkem\u00f8det is that people listen to each other, especially those they do not agree with. The PM himself debated with the head of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, Lizette Risgaard, and former Socialist People\u2019s Party Politician \u00a0\u00d6zlem Cekic.<\/p>\n<p>But is the PM\u2019s vision realistic?<\/p>\n<p>In the UCPH debate <em>Why does science lose to beliefs?<\/em>, philosophy professor Klemens Kappel said that people presented with contradictory research within a politically-heated topic will set aside facts that challenge their worldview and lean towards conclusions which support it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not blindly trust research. This can explain why a large share of the population is concerned about the HPV vaccine even though scientists endorse it and also why half of the republicans in the US have denounced climate change as a scam. And why so many of us believe that wolves are fatal to human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nyheder.ku.dk\/alle_nyheder\/2017\/12\/filosoffer-skal-undersoege-uvilje-mod-nye-genteknologier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kappel has been grated DKK 10 million by the Novo Nordisk Fund to investigate skepticism around GM crops<\/a>&#8211; a scepticism, which continues to thrive despite the research and not because of it.<\/p>\n<h3>The problem lies in our heads<\/h3>\n<p>The value of scientific evidence has been further dismantled in the era of social media, where the value of facts is diminishing, while the election of US president Donald Trump and the Brexit were a revolt against traditional authority structures.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Those who doubt are the true democrats<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Kasper M\u00f8ller Hansen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>During the debate, professor Kasper M\u00f8ller Hansen painted a gloomy picture and lamented the erosion of traditional media in a digital media landscape.<\/p>\n<p>However, after the debate Kappel said that he does not subscribe to these doomsday predictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScientific scepticism is a localised phenomenon, because humans believe the majority of research. But there are some specific, loaded topics which are highly polarised, and where research struggles to trump the recipient\u2019s ideology or identity. It isn\u2019t because people are stupid or that the researchers have lost authority. It is more an expression of politically-motivated cognition,\u201d says Kappel from under a sunhat, as he strolls away from the UCPH tent and towards the busy streets of the harbour.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kappel, it is not (just) social media\u2019s fault. When we reject scientific findings which challenge our identity and worldview it is more likely because of certain mechanisms in our head &#8211; mechanisms which paradoxically, only become stronger as we search for new knowledge and formulate our own viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who doubt are the true democrats,\u201d as M\u00f8ller Hansen put it with a smile during the debate.<\/p>\n<p>The question is, how do you challenge something so inherent in humans?<\/p>\n<p>When putting forward potential solutions, Kappel stresses that there is no catch-all fix.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not believe that you can convince people to put their ideology aside. And generally I think it is a somewhat open empirical question as to which approach will work. But we know that it works to put people in specific groups where they discuss with people they do not ideologically agree with. In fact, this has a moderating effect,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Another thing which has proved to work is boosting people\u2019s identity. Identity-affirming information makes us more willing to accept conclusions which threaten our identity.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"Public debaters need to stop politicizing facts. They are often the ones who are to blame when a topic becomes politicized and they need to take a greater responsibility. But that is not easy to control","quotee":"Klemens Kappel","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>For example, with the help of a survey you can find out what values are important to a test subject. If they rank friendship highly then you ask a range of questions about its value. Then, you expose them to evidence which contradicts their worldview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this instance, test subjects have proved to be more receptive, because their identity-confirming values were forefront in their minds,\u201d says Kappel, while he turns away from the crowds milling about the harbour and steps onto one of Allinge\u2019s steep hills.<\/p>\n<h2>Climate challenges as a business opportunity<\/h2>\n<p>However, it is rare that we boost our identity or seek out groups of people we don\u2019t agree with before we receive new information. Kappel acknowledges that overall it is difficult to know whether the strategy works beyond the lab.<\/p>\n<p>In an ideal world, you would avoid subjects becoming polarised &#8211; and that is not a simple task.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is difficult, and I am aware that there is no robust evidence in the area,\u201d says Kappel, pausing briefly. \u201cBut there was a discussion around abortion access in France, where one way to reduce polarisation was to find certain ways of arguing which both resistors and advocates could see themselves in. In the same way, you can present climate challenges as a business opportunity instead of something which demands state regulation. That could end up attracting more US republicans, for example. In this way, we get different perspectives on the challenge, but because they play into our identity then the facts in the debate become depoliticized.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Yes, I am a definite optimist. When people say that we are facts-resistant, that isn\u2019t true. \u00a0We are that way in some specific subject areas. And that is overall short-lived<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Klemens Kappel<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, he stresses that responsibility cannot solely be placed on researchers and rejects the idea that authors of scientific articles in highly politicized areas should be compelled to consider audience more closely in this manner when forming research questions.<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, the biggest responsibility lies with public speakers, who attack scientific facts for the sake of winning. Such as when Trump says climate change is a hoax or when certain Danish politicians suggest wolves are humanity\u2019s greatest enemy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey need to stop politicizing facts. They are often the ones who are to blame when a topic becomes politicized and they need to take a greater responsibility. But that is not easy to control,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p><em>Basically, you say that it is difficult to implement concrete solutions in the real world. Is there a reason to be anything other than a pessimist?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I am a definite optimist. When people say that we are facts-resistant, that isn\u2019t true. \u00a0We are that way in some specific subject areas. And that is overall short-lived. If you look at the discussion around artificially modified crops in 1983, it was just as politicized as other topics are today. But that has been completely forgotten today, and I believe it will also go this way with current debates. Politicization emerges when the evidence interferes with our values, but contingent conditions may cause that, and they can disappear again,\u201d he says, concluding:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe we are making a mistake by focusing on those instances where there is strong polarisation and then we make generalisations out of them. We need to look at the entire spectrum of situations &#8211; in 98 percent of cases, the topics are neither politicized or polarised. So we need to understand what makes certain topics go that way. That is part of what we hope to achieve via our research project.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"Dansk","identifier":"Nyhedsbrev","headline":"Modtag et ugentligt nyhedsoverblik i din inbox","button_text":"Tilmeld nu","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":1376,"name":"Faktaresistens","slug":"faktaresistens-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1376,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1377,"name":"Klemens Kappel","slug":"klemens-kappel-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1377,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":18,"name":"Feature Article","slug":"feature_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":1200,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/kappel-1280x720.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71490"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71498,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71490\/revisions\/71498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}