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 The bio attached to Shawn Lawrence

Otto’s blog on science and politics (1)

notes his accomplishments as a sci-

ence advocate, political strategist, and screen-

writer ( House of Sand and Fog ). It also men-

tions that he’s an Eagle Scout, although that

seems in keeping with the persistently civic-

minded project of  Fool Me Twice. The book 

is not a stand-alone critique, lancing exposé,

or purely philosophical treatise such as oth-

ers—with undoubtedly similar concerns— 

have written within the past decade. It is not

that Otto doesn’t critique, expose, or philos-

ophize; certainly, his dissatisfaction with the

dismal state of scientific literacy among the

American public and its lawmakers is read-ily apparent, as are his progressive ideals.

Rather, what distinguishes the book is his

determination to simultaneously educate and 

move to action both lay readers and scientists.

Otto’s most urgent con-

cern is the overwhelming

absence, in both the pub-

lic and its elected repre-

sentatives, of the science

literacy required to make

informed policy decisions.

This illiteracy is troubling

for many reasons—not theleast of which are the conse-

quences of policy based on

highly subjective beliefs and 

assumptions rather than the

relevant science. Otto points

to dismal policies effected 

after largely rhetorical skir-

mishes over climate change

and evolutionary theory, but

he could just as easily have

singled out what’s at stake in,

say, the hackles raised by the

idea of vaccinating preteen girls against the

sexually transmitted human papillomavirus.A public and its elected policy-makers who

don’t understand the science behind these

issues will inevitably respond with their guts.

Otto finds this gut-based, ideologically

driven displacement of science from policy

decisions to be problematic on a more fun-

damental level: the way in which laws based 

on faith and assumptions instead of evidence

 pull the United States from its democratic

foundations toward an increasingly authori-

tarian government. Otto’s

argument that the indepen-

dence declared by Jefferson

et al. hinged on freedom of 

inquiry and reason is perhaps

the canniest part of the case

he makes for science literacy.

He reminds us of the think-

ers (e.g., Bacon, Newton, and 

Locke) whose arguments for 

the inductive reasoning and 

empiricism so crucial to sci-

ence influenced Jefferson’s ideas of democ-racy and its aims. A key tenet of Jeffersonian

democracy is that an educated, well-informed 

citizenry can be trusted to govern itself.

Something has gone wrong, Otto argues,

when those who are supposed to represent the

 public are not adequately informed about thescience behind important issues yet continue

to insist on their beliefs. Such a top-down,

empirically empty method of governance,

he notes, is closer to the blind ideology of 

authoritarianism than to democracy.

Instead of simply insisting on the preemi-

nence of science (a subject many people know

little about and, consequently, are intimidated 

 by), Otto ties its importance to the ideals and 

demands of democracy. Aiming to instill a

sense of duty in his readers, he walks them

through the relevant histories of both g

ernment and science in the United States.

draws out the parallels between the scient

method and democracy so that it seems ine

table that the two should be entwined.

Of course, at this point science and g

ernment in the United States are not

entwined as Otto argues they should

After discussing several major policy iss

to demonstrate problems that arise from

gap between the two, he exa

ines why Americans h

  become so effectively

tanced from science. He c

templates how the fears rai

 by the atomic age and, la

environmental disasters h

left a lingering distrust am

the public. Intriguingly,

considers how both the un

niably authoritarian Christ

right and the ostensibly a

authoritarian postmodernist denial of objtive truth have undermined appreciation

science. Otto also takes a look at how c

 porate interests have confused our sense

science’s credibility. And he doesn’t overlo

the many scientists who have turned inw

 preferring not to have to explain their w

or its relevance to a public that is ever m

ill-equipped to understand it.

After outlining “America’s science pr

lem” and discussing science politics of y

terday, today, and tomorrow, the author off

a concluding section, “The solution.” O

strongly endorses working within peopcomfort zones to acquaint them with the

ence behind public issues that affect them.

lauds the biology professor who encoura

religiously conservative students to recon

their beliefs with their study of evolution

the religious leader who challenges parish

ners to think critically about scripture and

extension, the scientific world. Admitted

these are the sorts of local gestures that m

only lead to small changes here and the

Otto’s most intriguing idea, however, is “

ence debates,” in which candidates disc

their stances on science-based policy issu

He and scientists who support the idea wolike to make these a part of all presidential

congressional election seasons. They beli

such public debates will force politician

ground their opinions in scientific knowle

instead of rhetoric. And, just as importan

 placing science in discussions of polic

that affect the public “allows them to beco

familiar with science and knowledge-ba

argumentation as opposed to mere rhe

ric, to learn or relearn how to distinguish

two, and to use this thought process not o

For the Democracy of Science

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY 

Alyssa Pelish

The reviewer is at the American Council on Science and

Health, 1995 Broadway, Suite 202, New York, NY 10023–5882, USA. E-mail: alyssa.pelish@gmail.com

Fool Me Twice

Fighting the Assault

on Science in America

by Shawn Lawrence Otto 

Rodale, Emmaus, PA, 2011.

384 pp. $25.99, C$29.99.

ISBN 9781605292175.

Published by AAAS

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www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 334 28 OCTOBER 2011

  C  R  E  D  I  T  :  F  R  O  M   M  O  T  H  E  R  :  C  A  R  I  N  G  F  O  R  7  B  I  L  L  I  O  N  /  C  O  U

  R  T  E  S  Y  T  I  R  O  I  R  A  F  I  L  M  S

 This year, the global population passed 

the seven billion mark. By the year 

2045, the world is expected to host

nine billion human beings. Let me repeatthat: nine billion. In the 1960s, heightened 

concern over the “population explosion”

 prompted a global focus on Earth’s ability to

sustain the rapidly increas-

ing human population. Since

that time, the number of peo-

 ple on the planet has nearly

doubled, but, oddly, concern

over the impact of the ever-

increasing human population

seems to have faded from the

 public’s attention. When the

size of the human population is mentioned 

these days, it is most often in the context of wondering how we will feed so many. One

rarely hears other important concerns sur-

rounding the continuing increase in our num-

 bers—such as whether our resource use will

 permit the survival of other species, whether 

essential resources (for example, clean water)

will remain available following the complete

anthropogenic alteration of Earth’s systems,

and how our focus on consumption and eco-

nomic growth amplifies human impacts

above and beyond our simple requirements

The Underlying Issue

FILM: ENVIRONMENT

in making electoral decisions but also in dis-

cussing things with their kids.”

The cynics among us would argue that

 bringing this idea to fruition requires the opti-

mism of an Eagle Scout. (Could the proto-

col of such debates guard against politicians’

habits of cherry-picking scientific facts at

their own convenience? Would the public be

willing to educate themselves enough to actu-

ally follow the content of the debates?) Yet the

assumption that a well-informed people will

act in its country’s best interest is fundamental

to the ideals of Jeffersonian democracy. The

solutions Otto suggests require a great deal

of dedication and optimism. Nonetheless,

the problems he identifies are quite real. Fool 

 Me Twice offers a compelling consideration

of the United States’ political estrangement

from science. One would very much like to

attend to Otto’s equally compelling hopes.

References1. http://shawnotto.com/neorenaissance/.

10.1126/science.1212889

for survival. Most important, there appears

to be a distinct avoidance of identifying the

increasing human population as a potential

threat to ecosystem stability.Our choice to avoid discussion of the

 population issue, however, will not make the

 problems disappear. Christophe Fauchere’s

film Mother: Caring for 7 Billion encourages

us to reengage, both publicly and person-

ally, with the reality of what our increasing

 population will bring. In its examination of 

the history of the population concern and our 

current level of resource use and consump-

tion, Mother does not shy away from arguing

that unchecked human population growth is

not sustainable. Nor, however, does the film

succumb to a fatalistic viewpoint. Instead,Fauchere attempts to inspire change through

interviews and stories of individual trans-

formations. A brave Ethiopian woman— 

emboldened by a radio

show that encourages

women to think about

family planning and stand 

up for themselves—leads

viewers to see that the

empowerment of women

across the world could 

 be a first step toward both

limiting population growth and fighting pov-

erty. Other interviews with human rights and  population workers in developing countries

are similarly convincing and inspiring. These

lead one to the hopeful conclusion that as

conditions for women improve, so will their 

ability to manage the size of, and provide

 better lives for, their families.

I had hoped for an equally inspiring tale

about how to tackle other aspects of the

human population problem, those of con-

sumption and an overwhelming focus on

economic growth in developed countries.

Here, however, the challenges are greater

and the film leaves us without concrete solu

tions. Fauchere marshals interviews wit

ecologists, economists, and sociologists tconvincingly argue that developed econo

mies are based on consumption and, furthe

that as developing countries improve thei

quality of life, they too enter into a consump

tion economy. All people deserve an equa

quality of life, but the unfortunate trut

is that Earth cannot sustain a developed

country level of consumption for billions o

 people. As pointed out in the film, it woul

take all the resources of 10 Earths to suppor

the current global human population at th

consumption level of the United States.

The question of how humanity wilequalize living conditions across the glob

for a growing population while still main

taining the ecological systems we depend o

is monumental and overwhelming. Mothe

does not provide us with answers. Instead

the film suggests that the daunting nature o

the solution may explain why we choose t

ignore many of the harshest truths about th

 population problem.

The film compellingly argues that a fai

and just solution is likely to only be found in

a complete refocusing of our priorities an

societies. Specifically, we must value diver

sity, human and biological, over the grosnational product and human solidarity ove

competition. Although Fauchere does no

show us how to get to this point,  Mothe

leaves viewers with a ray of hope that human

ity has the potential to reach such a state. I

will also convince them that to do so we mus

not be afraid to reengage with the popula

tion issue and that the time for such renewe

engagement is now.–Sacha Vignie

Mother

Caring for 7 Billion

Christophe Fauchere, director 

Tiroir A Films Productions,

Denver, CO, 2011. 55 minutes.

www.motherthefilm.com

10.1126/science.121457

Published by AAAS