I keep hearing about the challenges of science communication in a “post
truth world” and I think that framing our challenges in this way plays into a false narrative. I think simply saying that we do live in a "post truth world" says that on some level we agree. I would actually wager
that on average understanding of science is better now than it’s ever been. Sure science education in the US needs work. But it's not like we existed in some Eden where everyone
understood statistics and uncertainty and p values and we’ve all been kicked
out. The default truth telling devices for the vast majority of
human history have been and still tend to be myths and metaphors (see what I
did there with the Eden reference?). Yes, information moves faster, and misinformation is more
readily available but propaganda has always been a tool of the powerful.
I think that we expect that whenever we're very close to certainty about any scientific finding then everyone should just automatically understand. I keep seeing references to the idea that people don't question gravity in the same way they do evolution. Exactly. Evolution questions belief systems that have existed for thousands of years. Science doesn't just get to come along and overturn all that in less than a hundred (I'm counting from the discovery of DNA, the real understanding of the mechanisms of evolution). Gravity is something we all experience every day. Evolution takes place over generations and isn't something most people actually get to see unfold.
I do agree that we need to get better at explaining uncertainty and statistics but we cannot come at this from the perspective that if we just explain these things in the best way then suddenly people will be able to understand the world from a scientific perspective. A lot of the phenomena we're trying to educate people about (climate change, again, evolution) take place over the course of more than one human life and tell stories that run counter to both people's lived experience and deeply held worldviews.
I think we owe ourselves the chance to revel in the fact that we live at a time where we have the best understanding of the natural world humans have ever had. We get to look across the universe with the best telescopes we've ever had. We get to peer inside cells and understand the mechanisms of mass. We freaking observed gravitational waves! This stuff is incredible! And yes, deeply challenging to communicate effectively about. But I think we ought to stop wringing our hands over a supposed "post truth world" and remember that humans have always been much better at talking in myth. And I am hopeful that we can collectively find ways to talk about statistics in a way that helps more people understand how they work.
