Science-denying teachers, what’s the worst we can expect?

When faced with professors who contradict science, it is easy to understand a president who takes political positions that lead to thousands of deaths. It is reckless to know that there are many Bolsonaros in Brazil who are called masters.

Anderson Pierce *

The denial of science originated in the field of religiosity. The Middle Ages was marked by the atrocities and abuses suffered by many scholars as a result of scientific denial and the imposition of beliefs on the basis of religious teachings. But even in the Middle Ages, denial extended from the religious sphere to the political sphere.

At many moments the suppression of science, and primarily freedom of thought, as a means of maintaining dominance and restricting rights, served politicians. Likewise, the agenda of denial is apt for dialogue with conservative masses, which, when contemplated, turn into electors.

These politicians are usually supported by the religious character, who read the Bible in the light that seems most appropriate to them. This can be seen when discussing abortion, creation, and even the use of vaccines. It is not just a matter of faith, there is also a clear intent to identify with the agendas that will eventually lead to votes.

In the midst of the pandemic, the denial of science by certain groups is becoming more and more apparent. Denying the spread of the virus and questioning restrictive measures and the use of vaccines, highlighted a third issue that they try to hide though always present, and that is the economic issue. Denial carries religious, political, and financial interests.

When Trump and Bolsonaro spread the madness about the pandemic, they made clear the political, economic and religious group they were talking to. It was this audience that in vain echoed the popularized variety. The refusal also serves the economic interests of those who demanded the opening of services and trade indiscriminately, as well as questioning the use of masks, social distancing, and the application of vaccines.

As vaccination progressed, some people from groups classified as priority declined vaccination. Military and civilian police, firefighters, clergy, politicians and, most impressively, teachers are among those who reject the vaccine.

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If denial presupposes ignorance and ignorance of the subject, what can one say when a teacher does not want to vaccinate and questions the efficacy of vaccines as the best way to prevent infection, the spread of diseases and the emergence of new variants, especially protection from children and young people who will attend your lessons?

Note that we are not talking about religious fundamentalists, armed groups or businessmen who preach anything that goes in defense of their economic interests. The class in question must guide its decisions with science and collective decisions, since its activity involves risking third parties. Thus, no arguing about individual rights is possible.

For those who think tinkering couldn’t be worse. We have doctors and postdocs looking for arguments in studies that have no credibility, and comparisons with experiments that don’t apply to the situation, but with the titles they hold, promoting intellectual deception to assert their beliefs and disrespect for humanity.

A person who claims to be a scientist in a particular field of study must know that we must respect what has been studied in other fields. Those who hold the title of professor and search for false arguments to justify beliefs, in addition to showing cognitive dissonance, expose bad character. In the case of an epidemic, in which denial puts the lives of others at risk, he is a criminal.

When faced with professors who contradict science, it is easy to understand a president who takes political positions that lead to thousands of deaths. It is reckless to know that there are many Bolsonaros in Brazil who are called masters.

The pandemic has devastated the world with deaths and made unimaginable distortions apparent. We have doctors advocating the use of ineffective treatments that can kill, police officers spreading hatred for those protesting against a genocidal government, and even professors who deny science and oppose a vaccine. If something worse is still to come, it’s scary to predict.

*Anderson Pierce has a degree in Social Communication – Journalism from the UFPB, Advertiser, Cook and Author policy thermometer.

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