Excellent letter from Steven Pinker on politicizing science and *Science*

Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard. His letter is to a board member of the AAAS, which publishes Science, in response to a fundraising letter. Excerpts:

My own experience as a scientific communicator confirms that there is enormous distrust of the scientific and academic establishments, because people believe these establishments have been captured by the political left and that any dissent from orthodoxy will be met with censorship or cancellation.

The solution is obvious. Scientific organizations must cultivate a reputation for objectivity, neutrality, openness to debate, and consideration of evidence for alternative hypotheses. Yet it is precisely in these areas that the AAAS, including Science magazine, have been making the problem worse.

For example:

“If we want to increase the number of African Americans in physics, it matters a great deal whether we should try to fix the nation’s high schools or accuse physics professors of white supremacy. Yet Science magazine has decided, without debate or data, to advocate the latter.”

He also discusses its animus against discussing nuclear energy and debating transgenderism and the complexities of climate change.

Full letter at Jerry Coyne’s site.

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