Great Timing: Nanotechnology and Public Perception
Not an article, but an essay: Hearts and minds and nanotechnology. Nature Nanotechnology 4, 136 (2009).
The timing of this piece’s publication, a week after I started my blog, could not have been more appropriate. In my first post I wrote, “writing… about nanotechnology will be of even greater importance as the science makes its way into everyday-use devices. Think about politicians: they practically live for uninformed demagoguery in exchange for votes.”
Now, this essay by Chris Toumey asserts that people’s opinions favoring/opposing nanotechnology are shaped heavily by their existing prejudices about science/technology and by their religious intensity. While earlier surveys suggested that the more people knew about nanotech the more likely they were to support it, the amount of knowledge people have or acquire is unlikely to overcome existing biases.
For those who expect that people will embrace nanotechnology when they learn about the science, the… message… is that scientific knowledge in our minds is a weak companion to the strong values and concerns in our hearts.
If nanotechnology is to work its way into our lives and effect positive changes, we cannot afford to get bogged down in debates like those assigning scientific merit to both intelligent design and evolution, as if they were opposite sides of the same coin. So what should you, the nanotech innovator who wants to change the world with your science, do in the face of these opinion hurdles? I have three ideas.
1. Frame discussions to highlight the real-world benefits and de-emphasize the technical detail. Read more…
