Science News blogger Bethany Brookshire applies network thinking to a recent study by Pew Research Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science that illustrates the opinion gap between scientists and “non-scientists” on a number of current issues. She interprets the corollary demographic data as evidence of a “balance theory” and “eco-chamber” and effects in the American consumption of news. Kevin Lewis, a sociologist at the University of California, San Diego summaries this perspective, saying that: “I could write the most brilliant op-ed you’ve ever seen, but if I’m saying something someone disagrees with, they aren’t going to listen.”
Read the full article here: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/scientists-feather-flock-together
Read Pew’s report here: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/