[Editor’s note: Myles Power is a chemist in Manchester, England.]
Over the past year, I have been giving a talk to various skeptical and humanist groups across the [UK]….
I was … shocked by the number of people in attendance who held dogmatic, almost conspiratorial, views on GMOs, yet still called themselves a skeptic, with no irony.
One thing that I noticed happened repeatedly in the Q&A sessions was that I was asked many questions that had nothing to do with GMOs. Looking back, I think this really speaks volumes about the lack of basic knowledge on the subject, but at the time I found myself irritated by people who were unable to separate the technology from a specific company or from industrial farming in general.
…
Looking back, I don’t think I was quite prepared to meet the raw vitriol that some people have towards GMOs, and I was genuinely shocked at how prevalent it was within the skeptical community.
Overall, it was an enjoyable experience, but I did finish thinking that a fear and distrust of GMOs is so ingrained into our society that it’s going to be a long time before we look back and think “what the hell were we playing at” and use this technology to its full potential.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: My Experience Giving a ProGMO Talk at Skeptics Events
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