Science: The New Victim of Cancel Culture?

In a world where individuals, regardless of their status as a celebrity, politician, Olympian, social media influencer, or regular college student, live under the constant scrutiny of being “canceled,” science occupies a particularly vulnerable position. Amid the relentless quest for the truth, science seems to be the victim of cancel culture, especially concerning COVID-19. 


During the pandemic, a significant portion of the population resisted mask-wearing, social distancing, and vaccination efforts and often tried to “cancel” the field of science itself. As Maddie Burakoff, a reporter for The Associated Press, observed in a survey, “Only 39% of U.S. adults said they had “a great deal of confidence” in the scientific community, down from 48% in 2018 and 2021.” Many people argued that scientists did not know what they were doing and that science was being misused for the wrong reasons. Due to people’s lack of understanding and trust in science, the spread of COVID-19 was heightened. 


However, most people do not realize that science is undeniably complex, as emphasized in Christie Aschwanden’s article, “Science Isn’t Broken.” Science is not something that can provide immediate and straightforward answers. Unfortunately, many believe science is a magic wand that turns everything it touches into truth. Aschwanden thinks we need to adjust our expectations to make science more reliable, and I could not have agreed more. As a society, we have created an unrealistic expectation from science to provide immediate and accurate results, and we have failed to understand its complex nature. Something that I find amusing regarding the pandemic is that our expectation for science is immense. However, according to a CDC report, among the top reasons for people not trusting science was that the vaccines were developed too fast.


Despite the challenges and skepticism, there is hope in science, as Aschwanden believes. What makes science so powerful is its ability to self-correct. False findings in the science field find their way to get published, leading to misinformation and confusion. However, new studies eventually emerge to overturn these inaccuracies and reveal the truth. During COVID-19, scientists faced unique challenges, as they had to revise their understanding of the virus and its effect continuously. A great example of this that comes to my mind is when some scientists, according to  Kathleen Berger, Executive Producer for Science & Technology, published that “10 to 12-feet” social separation should be kept to be safe. Still, later on, other scientists found that 6 feet of proper social distancing was good enough to contain the virus. Rather than viewing uncertainty as a flaw, we should appreciate each of them as a step forward to advancing science. 



As you can see on this graph, the publications of journal articles in 2020, according to Fraser and Kramer, increased rapidly, as that was the peak of COVID-19, and new information about the virus was still being discovered. However, at the same time, journals were being pre-printed as scientists were “self-correcting” their findings, which is truly remarkable. 


In conclusion, science, like any other field, is not immune to scrutiny and criticism, especially in an era of the cancellation culture; however, it is through science’s nature of self-correcting and the goal of getting less wrong over time that I believe that we can eventually overcome these challenges, and continue to set reliable expectations from science, scientist, and society itself. 


















Citation 

  1. Aschwanden, C. (2015, August 19). science isn’t broken. FiveThirtyEight. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/science-isnt-broken/ 

  2. Burakoff, M. (2023, June 15). Confidence in science fell in 2022 while political divides persisted, poll shows. The Associated Press. Retrieved September 8, 2023, from https://apnews.com/article/trust-science-medicine-social-survey-725ab3401f27900be6cc957eec52e45e 

  3. Nuijten, M. Efficient Scientific Self-Correction in Times of Crisis. The New Common, 161-167. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65355-2_23

  4. Nguyen KH, Srivastav A, Razzaghi H, et al. COVID-19 Vaccination Intent, Perceptions, and Reasons for Not Vaccinating Among Groups Prioritized for Early Vaccination — United States, September and December 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:217–222. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7006e3 external icon

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