Anti-Science Attitudes and Anti-Intellectualism in America: Evidence and the Downsides

The Rise of Anti-Science Attitudes and Anti-Intellectualism in America: Evidence and the Downsides with Dr. Charles Kupchella, Speaker and Ronald Mutchnik, Moderator There has been a rise in anti-science sentiment and anti-intellectualism in America. How did this happen and why? Is it a consequence of today’s politicization of truth -- derived from “anti” issues about masks, climate or vaccines? Did it come from conflicts between science and religion, e.g. creationism vs evolution? Could it be traced all the way back to the Enlightenment giving way to Romanticism and other “isms"? Implications if science is no longer used as a guide to government policies? Consequences of diminishing support for science and education as drivers of our economy? ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Charles E. Kupchella, PhD served as President of the University of North Dakota –1999-2008. He is a past-president of both the American Association for Cancer Education and the Kentucky Academy of Science. He holds a PhD in Biology from St. Bonaventure University and an undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. K is the author more than fifty published articles in medical and other scientific periodicals. He is also the author of six books on cancer, the special senses and the environment and other aspects of human biology. His most recent books: “The Tree Shack: A Story about the Foundations of Morality and the Origins of Humankind,” published in 2014 and Morality: How it Evolved and how it was Hijacked and Confounded by Religion, 2019. ABOUT THE MODERATOR: Ronald Mutchnik is a lifetime educator. He has taught the intermediate grades in both public and private school. He was an Elementary Principal for 24 years during which time he developed an artist in residence program, an environmentally-focused overnight camping program and an annual talent show. He served on two national committees of the National Association of Elementary School Principals. On summer breaks he conceived of and ran a unique summer day camp program, first in a private school setting and then for a public school district. Since retirement Ron has supervised student teachers at a local college and Literacy Interns for the Philadelphia Public Schools. At the same time he taught a local township tennis program as well as coached middle school and several high school tennis teams. During his time in Naples he has served as President of his condo board of directors for over a decade, lead a monthly discussion group for the Men’s Cultural Alliance and is now serving as Vice-President of the CCT Board of Directors while helping to coordinate its Non-Fiction Book Club (all as time allows between tennis matches).