Episode 25 – The Philosophy of Pseudoscience – Is GMO Opposition Valid Or Just Another ‘Belief’?


There are certain topics amongst environmentalists that seem not up for debate….I’m not talking about climate change, that is of course beyond debate and we can put that discussion to bed, I mean when 99% of scientists say something is true its time to stop debating. Gravity is another one. Although apparently not worthy of the same criticism as global warming, anyway I digress…

But there are some of these topics where a broad underlying consensus of opposition exists but with less backing from the scientific literature. Well, being annoying and controversial whenever this happens I like to investigate further to try and figure out if that consensus is backed by science or is it simply a belief.

One of these is Genetically Modified Organims (GMOs). And that is the main topic of todays podcast….GMOs are something I have tweeted about and been asked in reply I thought ‘we’ were anti-GMO, who is ‘we’ I haven’t created a cult have I? But I’m also wanting to further explore the topic of ‘beliefs’ within the environmental community and whether those beliefs are no different to ones of religion that some may even find silly. 

So I’m stepping out of the realms of environmental scientists and innovators once again, this time to speak to a philosopher. Stefaan Blanke is a philosophy professor at The University of Tilburg in the Netherlands and as he will explain he has taken his work looking at matters such as creationist beliefs in humans and applied that thinking to look at pseudoscience, particularly around GMOs. 

So a bit of a controversial one perhaps this week but that’s what I like to do, you might not agree so yeah leave a comment or whatever. 

 

Rob Wreglesworth

Rob is the head writer at Innovate Eco sharing knowledge and passion cultivated over 10 years working in the Environmental Sector. He is on a mission to build a community of people that are passionate about solving environmental problems.

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