Q&A: Chris Mooney - The Republican Brain

Aired 05/16/12Crazy though it may be, I assume many have accepted the fact that the Republican party has a problem with science and ultimately with evidence facts -- reality. It is now a matter of politics for them to deny science. Among their presidential primary candidates, only Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney accept that warming is happening and humans are a contributing factor.CHRIS MOONEY has been on this trail for years. In 2005, he wrote the best-selling THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE. By the time their anti-science, anti-reality bias was established, MOONEY was asking a deeper question. Did science have anything to teach us about why? And it turns out, recently, science does. That brings us to Chris's new book, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science and Reality. According to Mooney, from climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing. Not only that, so is denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy, and much more. Why won't Republicans accept things that most experts agree on? Why do they fight facts? He writes that the political parties reflect personality traits and psychological needs -Republicans wedded to certainty, Democrats to novelty - and this is the root of our divide over reality. Hopefully, understanding how or why Republicans deny science and facts should suggest ways to interact and work with that "reality" differently in order to be more effective moving forward. http://scienceprogressaction.orgrepublicanbrain.com