Afterword

In this chapter, the author looks at suggestions about making science communication more effective. Proposals divide roughly into those that focus on information and science education and those that focus on framing issues more effectively. Each type of approach has some promise, but neither education nor messaging has been shown to be able to significantly counteract denialism. This chapter also examines the modest progress shown in local remediation efforts, where coalitions of persons with different views about politics and environmentalism nevertheless find common ground in collaborating on issues of mutual, local interest (such as saltwater intrusion into fresh water supplies).

Religion

This chapter critically examines key historical and contemporary justifications for religious literalism. Reasons to believe in the literal truth of certain religious texts are divided into historical and contemporary evidence of miracles, the sensus divinitatis (or sense of God), and cosmological and teleological “proofs” of the existence of God. It finds that literalist religious belief is the product of motivated cognition, and can only be sustained by rationalization and denial. It further investigates ideas about how religious ideology may have originated, as well as how religious literalism can persist in the face of scientific advancements and cosmopolitan knowledge of other cultures.

Pride, Prejudice, and Political Economy

This chapter examines the denialist roots of laissez-faire economic conservatism and “trickle-down” economics. It presents evidence that conservative denial in political economics is sustained by racism and classism. It also discusses the philosophical incoherence of right-wing libertarianism and explains how racism has played a historical role in libertarianism as well. Much of the sincere absurdity in political economy stems from the fundamental attribution error, a common bias wherein the failures of other individuals (and social identity groups) are attributed to aspects of character; one’s own problems are the result of uncontrollable circumstance. Another major factor in the perpetuation of inequality is status anxiety among racial and economic groups.

Bias and Belief

This chapter introduces key psychological concepts pertinent to denial, such as cognitive dissonance, motivated reasoning, and confirmation bias. It also addresses the relation between denial and ideology. It explains different social psychology approaches to understanding the phenomena of denial and ideological denialism. Ideological denialism is a unique psychological condition wherein the subject is motivated to embrace a certain conclusion about issues of public relevance for reasons relating to self-interest, group-interest, culture, personality, and/or identity. A discovery of great importance is that the tendency to ideological denial is neither a consequence of being uninformed nor a consequence of one’s lacking political sophistication.

Science Denial

This chapter discusses different interpretations of the denial of science consensus, with a focus on climate science denialism. It investigates whether, in addition to elite manipulation of public opinion, the system justification, personality, and identity-protective cognition approaches to understanding science denial may all have a role to play in understanding the phenomenon. Asymmetry Theory says that there are facts about political conservatives in particular that might make them more susceptible to ideological denialism. Arguments for and against this thesis are examined. The conclusion is that it is the nature of the topic of climate change—and potential solutions—that instigates denial in some groups more than others.