The following is an edited excerpt.
While I admire this optimism and agree that we should continue to engage in conversations about GMOs, there are certain present-day realities that constrain our efforts to find common ground on this very controversial topic.
At the top of this list is the sheer amount of information we are inundated with every day. Using carefully crafted words (frankenfoods!) and images (syringes in tomatoes), they create myths–GM corn causes cancer, fish genes have been forced into tomatoes or GM corn kills the larvae of monarch butterflies–that tap into people’s fears about genetic engineering. When you combine these myths with our cognitive habits, things become even more complex:
- People are conspiratorial thinkers
- People think in ‘pictures’
- People are pattern seekers
- People are conformists
Read the full story here: Why GMO Myths Are So Appealing and Powerful
