Thirty years ago, I had the privilege of publishing a paper on what was, at the time, a new theory of knowledge known as the constructivist theory that I summarized in nine words: Knowledge is constructed in the mind of the learner (Bodner, G. M. J. Chem. Ed., 1986, 63, 873-878). One of the first things to fail from the perspective of this theory is the search for absolute “truth,” whatever that might mean. If you doubt this, compare the conventional wisdom from experts in nutrition in recent years about the importance of low-carbohydrate diets with the advice of practitioners of this field in days when they advocated low-fat diets as the best choice. The search for an understanding of how individuals “come to know” soon leads one to differentiate between “knowledge” and “belief” in the sense that beliefs can be thought of as unquestioned knowledge. The goal of this paper is to examine a variety of ways both individuals and groups can develop well-defended beliefs about climate change, GMO’s, the age of the earth, the importance of Green Chemistry and/or Sustainability/Sustainable Development, and a host of other topics.

Understanding the rationale of climate-change denial

255th National Meeting (2018)

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