Science denial often targets the policy prescriptions, not the science itself.

Evidence

Related research finds that people often deny science not because they don’t accept the science, but rather because they are averse to the associated policy implications (for example, saving energy or wearing a face mask). — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 158

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to what my knowledge base holds about motivated reasoning and identity-protective cognition (e.g., Kahan’s cultural cognition work). — connects to: Think tanks deliberately manufacture public doubt about settled science to shape policy — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 626; Remaining opposition to prohibition is policy choice, not scientific debate — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 8387; Science deniers do not reject science itself, only its inconvenient conclusions — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 269
• ADDENDUM: The face-mask example parallels how moral panics over dress/behavior get displaced onto practical compliance demands.

Broader Connections

• Remaining opposition to prohibition is policy choice, not scientific debate #exemplifies (0.90) — , The Rod and the Child, 8387
• Science deniers do not reject science itself, only its inconvenient conclusions #corroborates (0.85) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 269
• Think tanks deliberately manufacture public doubt about settled science to shape policy #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 626