Science has a trust problem

How science could restore trust

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Americans’ confidence in science has slipped dramatically.

• Communication should be treated as a vital part of a scientist’s job: Senior scientists must adopt new modes of communication, and graduate programs must equip the next generation with these skillsets.

• Building trust requires leaving academic bubbles and engaging directly with diverse communities.

Excerpt: "Scientists today seem out of touch with reality. In the past, when a new administration proposed deep cuts to federal research, scientists reflexively girded for battle using a tried-and-true playbook. We circulated petitions, attended protests, fired off angry emails, lauded our accomplishments, and hoped the storm would pass, all while patting ourselves on the back. But these days, the rising tide of anti-science sentiment is not receding. The same public that once rose to support us is not showing up. Americans’ confidence in science has slipped to its lowest point in almost half a century.

Only a third of Americans today think highly of universities — a number that has dropped by half in only a decade. The world changed, and scientists stubbornly did not.

One thing is very clear. The old strategies will not work today. A paradigm shift is needed. If we want the public — and the politicians who represent them — to see research as a national necessity rather than an optional line item, scientists must fundamentally change how we show up in public life.

We have persuasive material to work with. Vaccines have doubled human life expectancy. Gene-editing tools are poised to cure once-fatal diseases. Brain-computer interfaces now let paralyzed people type with their thoughts.

Yet too often these triumphs remain trapped in academic journals or emerge in press releases written for insiders, not neighbors. Into that vacuum step loud, well-funded voices eager to paint researchers as coastal elites pushing a partisan agenda."