Speak Up Now or Let Nonsense Win

Academic titles, so many published books and articles, so many lectures given... There must be responsibilities that come with all this accumulated knowledge. Intellectuals have a responsibility toward those who peddle pseudoscience and superstition on television, on social media, and from university podiums.

We can see it on Instagram. Pseudoscientific claims regarding human health receive thousands of likes and are shared hundreds of times. Superstition, pseudoscience, and lies are spreading rapidly. Publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals is not a weapon against these. Undoubtedly, the academy must produce quality publications. However, we do not live in a glass jar. We are surrounded by nonsense spreading at a dizzying speed. 

The secret clauses of the Treaty of Lausanne, the so-called harms of mRNA vaccines, creationist so-called scientific theories, personality analyses based on astrology, fake medical prescriptions... All of these are absurdities that showcase the New Middle Ages we find ourselves in. 

It is in exactly such an environment that the Disinformation Law is enacted and enforced. One hopes for something from it. But when we realize we are living in Turkey, that hope immediately fades. In reality, the laws and measures that should be working against this nonsense are instead being applied against the public's freedom to receive information and their political criticism. 

While nonsense spreads at full speed, the truth comes crawling. Do not use the law as an excuse. We must first look at ourselves. We must look at our own organizations. What are our professional organizations doing against superstition? What are our scientists doing against the spread of nonsense? We are so tired... The exhaustion brought on by arguing with the ignorant seems to tie our hands. 

Large masses of people, lacking the energy, background, and patience to distinguish between pseudoscience and science, or between lies and truth, either become indifferent and inactive toward all claims or believe what suits them and are deceived. 

Let me list a few political issues that occupy the minds of the masses and on which clarity is needed: Blue Homeland, the legal liability of companies (the Gediz Elektrik example), the Can Atalay case, NATO membership, the BTK's blocking of access to social media, companies that do not pay taxes, parliamentary immunity, and the beating of deputies in Parliament... Let our polling companies measure the public's level of knowledge on these issues and see what state our democracy is in. The voting of masses who cannot weigh claims is not democracy, it is a farce. We are living through that farce.