Technology: 83 out of 100 people say it would be a mistake if society didn’t trust science

For the fifth year, 3M has published its research on the state of science. The company’s survey of 1,000 people in 17 countries, for each state, showed that the majority of people trust science, its representatives and its results, and that trust has only grown as a result of the pandemic. At the same time, a large proportion of respondents are concerned that the credibility of science may be undermined by disinformation in social and traditional media spread through pseudoscience or science misrepresentation, impeding a common solution to global problems.

research results From the summary It turns out that the vast majority of people (90%) trust science and scientific findings regardless of location, but it doesn’t matter what channel they communicate through. If scientists and engineers themselves talk about the topic, then 85 percent of it will be accepted as original, while the credibility of colleagues and corporate websites is only 44-46 percent. This is greatly underestimated by politicians’ statements about science, social media posts on the topic, and many “celebs,” who have only 20 to 26 percent credibility. The source of the news is also not indifferent. 75 percent of science-based writing in traditional media gives credit, compared to just 44 percent in social media.

There has been a significant increase in the number of those who personally “stand” for science, defending its values ​​if someone asks them. That rate was just 20 percent before the pandemic, but it’s now 75 percent. Regardless of nationality

83% of respondents believe that there are negative consequences if society does not trust science.

Because some unreliable or subjective sources, such as social media, undermine their credibility. Among the potential consequences, respondents considered the following three to be the most likely: 61 percent highlighted more public health crises, 57 percent highlighted larger social divisions, and 53 percent highlighted worsening climate change.

The survey also shows that only 62 percent of respondents are satisfied with what their country is doing for sustainability. More importantly, people in Asia are more satisfied in this area than in America and Europe.

With regard to equality in education and scientific employment (STEM), the disadvantages of (minority) groups are still high. In each of the countries surveyed in the region, for example, women or people of non-majority races are under-represented in these regions. It is also an interesting experience that two-thirds of the country’s population (68%) respects STEM workers, but will not engage with them for various reasons.

Another important experience of the survey is that issues related to climate change and sustainability have become more personal in recent years, and scientific expectations have risen accordingly. Eighty-eight percent of those surveyed said that science has a role to play in mitigating the effects of climate change, and the same number believes that people should follow science to make the world more sustainable.

Respondents feel that inadequate and unequal healthcare is a major problem globally. According to the chapter on the future of science, half of people have expressed concern about the spread, use, and effects of AI, while the majority say that the assessment of science will improve over the next five years and have an increasing impact on their personalities. spirits.

György Bereznyák, Head of 3M’s Hungarian office, explained regarding the above survey: Although Hungary was not included in the sample, we have no reason to assume that the opinion and position of Hungarians would differ significantly from the answers given in Poland, ie.

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