PhilSci Archive

How to Beat Science and Influence People: Policy Makers and Propaganda in Epistemic Networks

Weatherall, James Owen and O'Connor, Cailin and Bruner, Justin (2018) How to Beat Science and Influence People: Policy Makers and Propaganda in Epistemic Networks. The British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

This is the latest version of this item.

[img]
Preview
Text (Author final copy)
propaganda FINAL BJPS formatted.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (636kB) | Preview

Abstract

In their recent book Merchants of Doubt [New York:Bloomsbury 2010], Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway describe the "tobacco strategy" , which was used by the tobacco industry to influence policy makers regarding the health risks of tobacco products. The strategy involved two parts, consisting of (1) promoting and sharing independent research supporting the industry's preferred position and (2) funding additional research, but selectively publishing the results. We introduce a model of the Tobacco Strategy, and use it to argue that both prongs of the strategy can be extremely effective—even when policy makers rationally update on all evidence available to them. As we elaborate, this model helps illustrate the conditions under which the Tobacco Strategy is particularly successful. In addition, we show how journalists engaged in "fair" reporting can inadvertently mimic the effects of industry on public belief.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Weatherall, James Owenweatherj@uci.edu0000-0003-1461-7821
O'Connor, Cailincailino@uci.edu
Bruner, Justinjustin.bruner@anu.edu.au
Keywords: Propaganda, tobacco strategy, journalism, epistemic networks
Subjects: General Issues > Rhetoric of Science
General Issues > Science and Society
General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User: James Owen Weatherall
Date Deposited: 20 Aug 2018 16:12
Last Modified: 20 Aug 2018 16:12
Item ID: 14950
Journal or Publication Title: The British Journal for Philosophy of Science
Subjects: General Issues > Rhetoric of Science
General Issues > Science and Society
General Issues > Values In Science
Date: 2018
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14950

Available Versions of this Item

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item