Thousands of years ago, at the beginning of the rise and spread of organized religions throughout the world, scientific knowledge, and religious beliefs were deeply intertwined. Many religious centers acted as patrons for scientific knowledge, leading to the development of incredible new ideas such as the modern numeral system and much of the basis of modern science. However, as soon as scientific discoveries based on observation and experimentation led to a worldview that differed from that of the religious organizations, these once amiable relationships became strained. The most notable example of this is Galileo, who was excommunicated upon proclaiming his belief in the heliocentric view of the solar system. With the enlightenment and the following industrial revolution, religion became increasingly separate from science due to their inherent incompatibility; religion is based on faith while science is based on questioning. Recently, with the rise of social media and its accompanying conspiracy theories, science has once again been pushed away from millions of people and has been replaced by outlandish theories based on ‘faith’ and not a critical analysis of all available evidence.
There are many consequences to this downward spiral into a society based on faith over evidence. Most tangibly, conspiracy theories that caused millions of people to believe in the false claim of voter fraud in the 2020 American presidential election led to an insurrection on January 6th, 2021. Clearly, there is extremely little evidence of voter fraud, but social media allows for the spread of conspiracy theories in interesting ways. In previous decades, when people came up with outlandish ideas, they were generally contained because those around them did not share those views and it was extremely difficult to find others that held similar values. Now, however, it is incredibly easy for people to find other like-minded individuals in Facebook groups or Reddit threads. As a result of this, conspiracy theories can gain traction and spread more easily, leading to dangerous events such as the insurrection of the United States.
This belief in conspiracy theories despite all tangible evidence proving otherwise is a reflection of the inherent disconnect between those ‘left behind’ and the ‘scientific elite’. In our current society, income inequality is at one of its highest levels in history, leaving many people, mainly those in rural areas, behind. In these communities, most people with belief in science leave for better opportunities, leaving the less fortunate behind. In addition to this, churches or other religious organizations remain powerful in these areas, furthering their disconnect from the critical thinking skills so vital to being an engaged citizen. As such, these people who have been left behind are vulnerable to believing in conspiracy theories that place the blame on a group of people other than themselves. This is a pattern repeated throughout history: groups that were once prosperous but are no longer doing well look for marginalized groups to blame for their downfall. Political parties tend to take advantage of these groups and drive their platform to be more and more polarizing, resulting in a more divided world.
It is necessary for education to emphasize the importance of science and social media companies to regulate the spread of misinformation to ensure a prosperous future for us all. Many may argue that this goes against the first amendment rights of American citizens, but fail to recognize that the Constitution and Bill of Rights are imperfect documents. They are simply a product of their time; the founding father could not have anticipated modern communication technologies in any way. As such, these documents should not be viewed as infallible, but scrutinized with a modern lens to ensure the continuation of the ideals, not the ideas, they represent.
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