A founder of social constructivism publicly regretted that his ideas aided right-wing climate denial

Evidence

Bruno Latour, one of the founders of social constructivism, wrote in a 2004 piece “Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?” that he became concerned when he saw an editorial in the New York Times that said: … Do you see why I am worried? I myself have spent some time in the past trying to show “the lack of scientific certainty” inherent in the construction of facts. I too made it a “primary issue.” But I did not exactly aim at fooling the public by obscuring the certainty of a closed argument—or did I? After all, I have been accused of just that sin. Still, I’d like to believe that, on the contrary, I intended to emancipate the public from prematurely naturalized objectified facts. Was I foolishly mistaken? Have things changed so fast? — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 285

Categorization

• XREF: Pairs with chapters 6-7 on manufactured doubt and the industrial production of uncertainty. — connects to: Post-truth roots lie in ancient cognitive bias, academic relativism, and media change; Centrist hypocrisy about words makes far-right denialism thinkable — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 502; Climate denial trades on manufactured doubt, not persuasion of scientists — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 927

Broader Connections

• Centrist hypocrisy about words makes far-right denialism thinkable #corroborates (0.75) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 502
• Climate denial trades on manufactured doubt, not persuasion of scientists #complicates (0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 927