The Thinking Error at the root of Science Denial

You see it here daily . Be it the FE'rs , Anti-Vaxxers , or Climate change deniers etc etc, there are a lot of posters that support these causes that show examples of dichotomous thinking. You can see a problem in their thinking process.

http://theconversation.com/the-thinking-error-at-the-root-of-science-denial-96099

"Dichotomous thinking, also called black-and-white and all-or-none thinking, is a factor in depression, anxiety, aggression and, especially, borderline personality disorder.

In this type of cognition, a spectrum of possibilities is divided into two parts, with a blurring of distinctions within those categories. Shades of gray are missed; everything is considered either black or white. Dichotomous thinking is not always or inevitably wrong, but it is a poor tool for understanding complicated realities because these usually involve spectrums of possibilities, not binaries.

Spectrums are sometimes split in very asymmetric ways, with one-half of the binary much larger than the other. For example, perfectionists categorize their work as either perfect or unsatisfactory; good and very good outcomes are lumped together with poor ones in the unsatisfactory category. In borderline personality disorder, relationship partners are perceived as either all good or all bad, so one hurtful behavior catapults the partner from the good to the bad category. It’s like a pass/fail grading system in which 100 percent correct earns a P and everything else gets an F.

In my observations, I see science deniers engage in dichotomous thinking about truth claims. In evaluating the evidence for a hypothesis or theory, they divide the spectrum of possibilities into two unequal parts: perfect certainty and inconclusive controversy. Any bit of data that does not support a theory is misunderstood to mean that the formulation is fundamentally in doubt, regardless of the amount of supportive evidence.

Similarly, deniers perceive the spectrum of scientific agreement as divided into two unequal parts: perfect consensus and no consensus at all. Any departure from 100 percent agreement is categorized as a lack of agreement, which is misinterpreted as indicating fundamental controversy in the field."

Here is another take on it .

https://respectfulinsolence.com/2019/11/18/dichotomous-thinking/

"Before I get into the article itself, I tend to like to refer to dichotomous thinking as: If we don’t know everything, we know nothing! In fact, I gave an example of this sort of thinking just last week but didn’t really discuss it.

Basically, Bill Maher, when interviewing Dr. Jay Gordon, kept harping on the uncertainty in medicine as a reason to doubt the safety and efficacy of vaccines, to doubt the conclusions of science, listing examples of dietary recommendations that changed, of Accutane being withdrawn from the market, and various other examples of when new findings led to significant changes in medical practice. Basically, his entire line of “reasoning” if you can call it that, was exactly the sort of dichotomous thinking that I listed above: If we don’t know everything then we know nothing, but with an additional twist. If we don’t know everything about everything in medicine, then anything is possible, no matter how much evidence against it exists; e.g., a link between vaccines and autism.

At the end of the interview segment, he even explicitly said that, unless a doctor can tell him exactly what causes cancer and exactly how to cure it then he won’t shut up about asking questions about medical issues. Basically, Maher kept ranting about what we don’t know about medicine, completely ignoring how much we do know.Shapiro characterizes this sort of dichotomous thinking a bit differently. After first noting that science deniers do cite science and empirical evidence but cite it in invalid and misleading ways, he notes that dichotomous thinking, also referred to as black-and-white or all-or-none thinking, is a characteristic factor in a number of mental conditions, including depression, anxiety, aggression and borderline personality disorder. This type of thinking involves taking a spectrum of possibilities and dividing it into two possibilities, eliminating shades of gray. Everything is either black or white."

Another telling excerpt , and you see this daily in these forums.

"Dichotomous thinking also has a consequence in how one evaluates existing scientific evidenceroof exists in mathematics and logic but not in science. Research builds knowledge in progressive increments. As empirical evidence accumulates, there are more and more accurate approximations of ultimate truth but no final end point to the process.

Deniers exploit the distinction between proof and compelling evidence by categorizing empirically well-supported ideas as “unproven.” Such statements are technically correct but extremely misleading, because there are no proven ideas in science, and evidence-based ideas are the best guides for action we have.I have observed deniers use a three-step strategy to mislead the scientifically unsophisticated.
First, they cite areas of uncertainty or controversy, no matter how minor, within the body of research that invalidates their desired course of action. Second, they categorize the overall scientific status of that body of research as uncertain and controversial.
Finally, deniers advocate proceeding as if the research did not exist. "