• Feel good story of the day, breaking right now, on Twitter/X:
And guess who made them explode all at once?
• Someone posted on social media this slide from a recent corporate DEI training session for employees at an un-named corporation, and aside from whether it might violate civil rights law, a prediction: Some day in the future, most everyone is going to look back on things like this with the same disgust as we now do for “Whites Only” and “Colored” bathroom signs from the Jim Crow era, and rightly so:
• Those brave editors at Scientific American have bravely and gravely announced that for “only the second time in our 179-year history,” it is making a presidential endorsement. And you’ll never guess who it is! (Hint: it is someone proud of her childhood neighborhood, and most especially its lawn care.) Of course, SciAm does tell you that the only other time they endorsed a presidential candidate was just four years ago, and they picked the senile guy.
So their track record is consistent at least.
However, Nature Human Behavior published a study based on an extensive survey of scientists that concluded political stances by scientific journals undermined public trust and confidence in the scientific establishment because, duh, what effect did you think it would have in these polarized times? Well, that’s not exactly how the author puts it, but that’s what the jargon means:
High-profile political endorsements by scientific publications have become common in recent years, raising concerns about backlash against the endorsing organizations and scientific expertise. In a preregistered large-sample controlled experiment, I randomly assigned participants to receive information about the endorsement of Joe Biden by the scientific journal Nature during the COVID-19 pandemic. The endorsement message caused large reductions in stated trust in Nature among Trump supporters. This distrust lowered the demand for COVID-related information provided by Nature, as evidenced by substantially reduced requests for Nature articles on vaccine efficacy when offered. The endorsement also reduced Trump supporters’ trust in scientists in general. The estimated effects on Biden supporters’ trust in Nature and scientists were positive, small and mostly statistically insignificant. I found little evidence that the endorsement changed views about Biden and Trump. These results suggest that political endorsement by scientific journals can undermine and polarize public confidence in the endorsing journals and the scientific community.
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