The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis.
When a science advocate’s prominence rises, the attacks from the antiscience side become more relentless and frightening. Kevin Folta knows this. Unfortunately, the pressure has been so great that Folta made this announcement on his Facebook page on November 4.
This is a depressing development. Yet another public advocate of science has been driven to give up the fight because of the harassment of anti-science forces. Kevin was one of the foremost voices countering anti-GMO pseudoscience, and now he is gone. I’m not criticizing him for his decision. I really can’t blame him for deciding that his advocacy just wasn’t worth the price he was paying. Consider the price. Besides having to deal with anti-GMO activists harassing him online, he had to deal with numerous complaints to his administration about his science advocacy.
Over the years, I’ve noticed many traits that various antiscience cranks share in common, be they antivaccinationists, quacks, anthropogenic global climate change denialists, or anti-GMO activists, and that is an obsession with ad hominem attacks. They can’t win on the science because science doesn’t support them; so they attack the man—or woman. At the very least, other scientists who see what happened to, say, Dr. Folta might decide speaking up is just not worth the consequences. Again, that’s the idea.
Share this article
I wish Dr. Folta well and thank him for all that he’s done in the service of science. I also hope that a day comes when he decides he can re-emerge and re-enter the conversation.
Read full, original post: A sad day for public science advocacy
