1/9
Do you ever get reminded of something you think could be true, but doesn’t SEEM true? That happened to me recently when my colleague asked me if I knew that President Trump had a science advisor. In fact, he does—every president since FDR has had one. #velshi
Do you ever get reminded of something you think could be true, but doesn’t SEEM true? That happened to me recently when my colleague asked me if I knew that President Trump had a science advisor. In fact, he does—every president since FDR has had one. #velshi
2/9
Think about it: the President has a scientist on-hand. Someone on call to provide knowledge, facts & figures. So the President can take advice on important measures like the climate crisis, or how to properly observe an eclipse, or how to handle a pandemic. #velshi
Think about it: the President has a scientist on-hand. Someone on call to provide knowledge, facts & figures. So the President can take advice on important measures like the climate crisis, or how to properly observe an eclipse, or how to handle a pandemic. #velshi
3/9
Right now, as the world grapples with the biggest health crisis in 100 years, science & expertise should be THE WHOLE BALLGAME. Yet here in the U.S, as cases rise & more Americans die, Donald Trump shuns science. #velshi
Right now, as the world grapples with the biggest health crisis in 100 years, science & expertise should be THE WHOLE BALLGAME. Yet here in the U.S, as cases rise & more Americans die, Donald Trump shuns science. #velshi
4/9
This attitude isn’t new. For decades, Republican politicians have turned their backs on expertise & academia in favor of populism. Today, in parts of America, coronavirus is spreading & killing people because personal opinion is seen as a viable alternative to fact. #velshi
This attitude isn’t new. For decades, Republican politicians have turned their backs on expertise & academia in favor of populism. Today, in parts of America, coronavirus is spreading & killing people because personal opinion is seen as a viable alternative to fact. #velshi
5/9
2020 seems to be the year in which America is achieving “peak ignorance” with the triumph of anti-education, anti-expertise & anti-intellectualism, egged on by a weird interpretation of freedom, and the right to NOT wear a mask. #velshi
2020 seems to be the year in which America is achieving “peak ignorance” with the triumph of anti-education, anti-expertise & anti-intellectualism, egged on by a weird interpretation of freedom, and the right to NOT wear a mask. #velshi
6/9
How does a White House with an in-house science advisor also have a president who stares directly at an eclipse without eye protection or who suggests drinking household disinfectants? #velshi
How does a White House with an in-house science advisor also have a president who stares directly at an eclipse without eye protection or who suggests drinking household disinfectants? #velshi
7/9
The first case of Coronavirus in the U.S. was diagnosed in mid-January, nearly SEVEN months ago. But we’re still debating the efficacy of wearing masks & social distancing as if the rest of the world hadn’t already settled the matter by actually flattening the curve. #velshi
The first case of Coronavirus in the U.S. was diagnosed in mid-January, nearly SEVEN months ago. But we’re still debating the efficacy of wearing masks & social distancing as if the rest of the world hadn’t already settled the matter by actually flattening the curve. #velshi
8/9
We have spent decades under-funding public education in America, leading to this embrace of populist, fact-free ignorance. SOME leaders have capitalized on that for political gain, pushing people to value morality over science, subjectivity over objectivity. #velshi
We have spent decades under-funding public education in America, leading to this embrace of populist, fact-free ignorance. SOME leaders have capitalized on that for political gain, pushing people to value morality over science, subjectivity over objectivity. #velshi
9/9
It's more critical now than ever to uphold scholarship & true expertise. But I'm not confident we will get there under the current administration, even with the help of a White House science advisor. #velshi
It's more critical now than ever to uphold scholarship & true expertise. But I'm not confident we will get there under the current administration, even with the help of a White House science advisor. #velshi
