The emasculation of frogs

摘要

The re-emergence of measles after its eradication from the USA (Bruni, 2015), misunderstandings about the transmissibility of Ebola (Harvard School of Public Health, 2014) and the ongoing controversy about genetically modified foods shine a light once more on the failure of so many of our business institutions to explain their science effectively. Nor is this failure confined to the world of health and chemistry. The recent rash of cyber-attacks and the continuing suspicion of consumers about what companies are doing with their data is increasingly exacerbating the trust gap between citizens and what were once called learned intermediaries - bankers, lawyers, insurers, accountants, doctors and scientists (Perlroth, 2015). As a result, there have also been numerous examples of changes in government health recommendations recently that are being roundly ignored. New doubts about the validity of regular prostate tests, colonoscopies, breast exams, even the weakening of longstanding warnings about salt and dietary fats are being rejected, all as part of a growing disconnect between what the experts are saying and what people believe (Perry, 2013). The astonishing persistence of anti-vaccine activists in the face of amply documented evidence showing that there is no connection to autism suggests we have once again reached a strange moment in the history of society's relationship to science (Ropeik, 2015).