The reason for this, according to Mooney and others, is that the “political neutrality of science began to unravel in the 1970s with the emergence of the new right”—a growing body of conservatives who were distrustful of science and the intellectual establishment, who were often religious and concerned about defending “traditional values” in the face of a modernizing world, and who favored limited government. This has prompted backlash against subjects for which there is broad scientific consensus, like global warming and evolution—backlash that has been apparent in survey data over the past three decades.
Mooney, who also has a new book out titled The Republican Brain, also highlights one of Gauchat’s more distressing findings, which is that this trend seems to be more common among conservatives with higher levels of education:
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via It’s Not Your Imagination: Republicans Really Don’t Like Science | Mother Jones.