Science Daily reports that a new survey by a group at University of Wisconsin found that 70% of Americans consider nanotechnology research to be “morally objectionable”. And it’s not because they’re too stupid to know the difference between nanotech and biotechnology research such as stem-cell work or cloning:
The moral qualms people of faith express about nanotechnology is not a question of ignorance of the technology, says Scheufele, explaining that survey respondents are well-informed about nanotechnology and its potential benefits.
“They still oppose it,” he says. “They are rejecting it based on religious beliefs. The issue isn’t about informing these people. They are informed.”
Time to go smack my head against the wall for a while.
There are valid reasons to have qualms about nanotechnology. Many safety concerns remain unaddressed, and quite a bit is still not known about how the small scale of the chemical changes being made actually impacts the properties and behaviors of materials (although I did read recently that a new study shows that nanotubes are not toxic to mice). But being opposed to this sort of research because your giant invisible grandpa wouldn’t like it is just plain stupid.
Our national tradition of anti-intellectualism is starting to get in the way of keeping things running. Last week in Salon, Laura Miller wrote about Susan Jacoby’s new book “The Age Of American Unreason” and Jacoby’s claim that fundamentalist religion in the United States is directly responsible for what Jacoby calls “junk thought”, epitomized by the “intelligent design” debate. Erich Vieth, posting at Dangerous Intersection, also writes about Jacoby, pointing out some factoids which should sound familiar to people reading here: 50% of Americans do not believe in evolution, 50% of Americans believe in ghosts, 15% of Americans do not know that the Earth revolves around the sun.
Stupidity and religious faith walk hand in hand. We’ve got a Presidential candidate who will pray to end the budget deficit, schools that pray for good grades for their kids, people who believe in miracles, and a President who says God tells him to start wars. I’ve had people ask me why I can’t just “live and let live” with regard to fundamentalists, and all I have to say is that it’s because these people imperil us all with their appalling combination of stupidity and willful ignorance. I can’t write this sort of stuff off with a blithe “oh, ha ha, silly fundies” anymore because they are contributing directly to the rapid demise of not just social and political institutions but of enlightened civilization itself. And they don’t care, because, in their world-view, they’re all going to fucking Disneyland when the Apocalypse comes.
You can’t make people who are willfully and deliberately opposed to knowledge and reason turn around and accept those things by sheer force of will. I’ve mentioned Nietsche’s words before: “Faith means not wanting to know what is true.” And consequently nothing will stop them, not even acceptance. Maybe through resistance it might be possible to get the fence-sitters and the “live and let live” types to see the danger these people pose and convince them to take up the cause.
