here, so i guess as positive that morale garcia, thank you. that's more discussion on the story right now. if you go to the op ed section of r t dot com, in the meantime, your bulletin returns in about half an hour's time. hope you can join us in the oh the join me every thursday. i'm alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guess in the world. the politics sport. business. i'm show business. i'll see you then. me. oh. or are

every day more needs more technology available more comfort, more products on the shelves. ah, and every day, new questions. what is there in our fields on our plate, in our medicines as the industrial era made our world toxic mm. concern is growing. citizens accuse industries of hiding the truth from us and industry denies it. how can we judge? so we turn to science. we ask researchers to be the judges of these new battles. for us. we demand that they step into the arena. we're living in

a world where there are many people who have a vested interest in fighting information, finding scientific evidence, and discrediting even the notion that science could provide the truth about the natural world. they are tentatively seeking to derail science. so we need to identify these attacks to expose the maneuvering of those trying to stand in the way of knowledge. and in that context, it's essential for us to understand who these people are, what they do, why they do it, and how they do it. ah, and we have to understand how it is that the public sometimes participates in the spreading of this deliberate ignorance. so we need to visit this landscape of manufactured ignorance. mm

hm. in northern greece, like in most of the developed world, bees are the victims of an ongoing carnage. well known since the 19 ninety's. this is now become a textbook case. a point from where we can begin our exploration of the manufacturer of ignorance. things always start with an enigma, in greece like elsewhere, experts on bees didn't understand what was happening and why. maybe it can. i mistake the pillow hooks ethnic i element doesn't polezza boy, is it because delevie news programs everywhere showed beekeepers in total disarray . i knew secondly, the suspect shows up this time it was a new generation of insecticides in our fields, the mo, the latest baby of the agro chemical industry at the time to pull active ingredients. every syngenta formulation is the result of years of careful investigation and thorough research by our scientists. you moment these new

products were spread on our crops down to the draw be started dying and they're millions of active ingredients. if the get a message, i'm at the same point is debbie, unequal thirdly, science is asked to investigate. to do so. it's funny how gina has been constantly going back and forth between her hives and her lab emerson embassy imminent. i think this place of almost every benevolent belief but looking for the truth has proven to be a game of cat and mouse. the usual task for scientists is to retreat into the calm of their labs, then explain what's being observed on the ground. we asked them to shed light on the mystery of the dying bees just as they have explained so many other phenomena. the role of science is to highlight natural mechanisms and reach an explanation for the slightest observable fact. this is how science normally

progresses. my solving more and more mysteries, and in principle, our knowledge of the world we live and increases. however, this fine principle sometimes has a few hiccups. for scientific observers, the case of the vanishing bees is emblematic of this. with something like ease and pesticides, you should have been able to investigate it by collecting data by following the evidence where it's taking you. the crux of the idea is that when we find the evidence that tells us what's happening, we tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. and we let the chips fall where they may, we commit in a way, sort of, you know, committing to accepting the truth of those findings. but in the case of the bees, that's not exactly how things went in the early to thousands go from an expert

report, show the toxic effect of even very low doses of new nicotine, always on bees. and yet for more than 20 years, there has been no unanimity, no consensus on the link between these pesticides and the disappearance of bees. wire things lagging so much. you need to be a very shrewd observer to see the whole picture of the moon over at horn is obey. yeah, a pipe. yeah, yeah, but that's got a sunk for proof dos. yes, psionic was intellectual business. in an ethernet, your head of a ha and was image film, years me with history or the most pathetic i. p card. one cannot eat that you dial exactly. look to your move on. why yet? good with a space of as evening, but you could up down to dollars to, to invite you to look at them. it's if kate, the cruise until say, mornings ploy and where the aucker, this is a quick search in

a scientific study database proves it. as soon as pesticides were suspected, the number of public or private studies focusing on other possibilities, skyrocketed. security 2010. the veterinary authorities were confused. yep. okay, your deal a hole in donald buck you went, but they say if you both could definitely interfere the more studies there were, the less beekeepers it makes sense if at all it seems like a paradox until you look back to an older case when you see a flourishing of new studies emerge in any particular area. a little bit ironically, it creates the appearance of being dedicated to pursuing the truth. but it takes me directly back to the case of big tobacco. why it's what's up front that cal and up front to head up the filter to understand we need to go back to the 1950s

a time when tobacco was treated with total recklessness. so you're blending by the back. oh boy, the back gate. yeah. that's why, but this recklessness wouldn't last. what does this pano train scientist back in december 19? 53. the bad news broke researchers had just provoked cancer in mice by painting them with tar from cigarette. after this discovery war broke out, the tobacco companies had a real crisis because they can't contest the evidence and say it's wrong. they can just say we don't know. and so the leaders of all the major cigarette companies got together in new york city. we now know that a meeting took place at the plaza hotel in new york in december,

between the bosses of the 7 major manufacturers, collectively known as big tobacco, imagined the scene with musket run to the heart of the matter. the meeting would go down in the annals of ignorance, was a challenge to every one of us. and we were all in this together unify. confronted with scientific progress, the cigarette manufacturers came up with a plan. they launched this campaign in which they said, you know, we're aware of the science, we think there are problems with it and it's a matter of deep concern to us. now we are beginning a campaign to spell out that basic point so that no one will fail to get it. they decided to make a public statement. we are pledging aid and assistance to the research effort into all phases of tobacco use of health. for this purpose, we are establishing a joint tobacco industry group. the tobacco industry research committee

would say, yes. the press published the declaration tobacco industry to start scientific research. ah, believe me, friends, just feel as for your smoky leisure and protection. every advantage known to modern science just reveal gives you scientific back. then these are plas. don't sound to de la sheshe, split the bow, a these pony map pledge illness. and while michelle to apples you'll do some was key voc along cold did don't fit it. every don't when you to leave that mittens, he'll speak cold, less young, 8 debbie that's really using science against itself. the explicit use of

science again, science i think, does represent a kind of watershed to systematically find the scientific research in order to undermine science. effectively fighting fire with fire, that's a watershed moment. so after they do side of this, how did they operationalize that? one of the things, the tobacco companies funded a lot of what i call distracting research. the labs, backed by the cigarette manufacturers defined research projects known as special projects or s p's a whole arsenal for diverting science. they researched for example, lung cancer and non smokers. they searched for links to habitat working conditions, personal habits. they experimented on rabbits to see if lung cancer could be caused by toxins or viruses. big tobacco thus generously financed hundreds of research projects. some of these projects turned out to be very useful,

such as research into the precursors of cardiovascular disease. put others were totally wacky, can egg yolk or tomato juice on the skin. lita, tumors. what's the link between lung cancer and baldness, or between the same cancer and the month of birth? were born in march claimed one study. you were more at risk before gently a play goes at the open bite, the viola conditions equal to point that the locals see the so me the young new i young of was told on a nurse because she wanted to need a convincing strategy because the lung cancer can probably be explained by a combination of factors, identifying the different risk factors as normal in size. multiplying avenues of research seems totally legitimate. but it can also be extremely handy for so in confusion. ah,

it becomes almost impossible to prove the suspect's guilt. and that's the aim that's extremely well understood. and that designed play book for pretty much every other science denial that has followed the story about tobacco. this is a story about acid rain. this is a story about the ozone hole. this is a story about pesticides. this is the story about climate change, the nicotine always been all 8th conscious of 2 pills. i mean, we have now seen this strategy used over and over and over again about buying time. a similar who's in strategic, daniel, in the case of tobacco, it's 70 years already and it's still going. mm. ah, ah, failure to allow bond markets to reflect to market forces has resulted in

a bifurcation in the economy where the most corrupt are rewarded for committing crimes. j. p. morgan being a prime example. and if you have morals or ethics you're penalized. if you're not out there still sailing alluding, then you're going to be homeless. and that's american today. is that a happy hey, center we have it done. we not allowed them to get them outside and by then coffee or she home. either by then is or shift along a

so with mud, so it can be almost up, lucia. behold, multiple multiple and ginger my can connect to so that keeps a few how most of the shows a lot of a symbol. so this is what i can then it's a button and how the who it man a loudly on how to do like a a humanity, maybe maybe with can well, the panoramic no,

no borders line nationalities and you as a merge we don't have a charity. we don't have a vaccine. the whole world needs to take action and be ready. people are judgment, common crisis with them. we can do better, we should be better. everyone is contributing each in their own way. but we also know that this crisis will not go on forever. the challenge is great, the response has been massive. so many good people are helping us. it makes us feel very proud that we are in it together. oh

ah, in the case of the dying bees, the advancement of knowledge has also been deliberately slow down the stairs. oh, in may or left that they'll be atlantis v. i went to got my mini equals submitted on the hung up. so we're talking about decades of disinformation and decades of delay. in the meantime, the companies are still making gobs of money. in when a scientific life has been constructed over several decades, where do the 1st cracks begin to appear?

for 40 years after the 1st alerts on tobacco, somewhere in the u. s. a humble employee performed an act that would change everything. ah, the box he sent finally arrived in california at the university of san francisco. on that day, professor glance was in for a surprise on may 12th 1994, a box of documents landed in my office from an anonymous source. these were internal documents from at the very highest levels of the tobacco industry. their senior scientists, their senior lawyers, their senior management, their senior public relations, people talking very, very frankly about what they knew about the dangers of smoking in this was an un hope for treasure, for the professor. it was like

a new world stumbling into a new world. the leaked documents increased in numbers. the truth broke. the tobacco industry bosses were cornered gentlemen. the recent disclosure of documents have shaken my confidence that your company's care about the truth. these documents suggest possible manipulation of scientific research by industry attorneys. if these things are true, then you should know that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and will not be allowed. faced with the proof at the tobacco bosses were forced to make decades of secret archives, public series, like the other collection were started out. a few 1000 pages is now up around 93000000 pages. oh, these documents are now kept in the university of san francisco archives. they contain all the details of a massive manipulation of science. the tactics deployed,

the researchers recruited and the sums of money involved. among these documents, one internal memo from 1969 sums up on his own. what the tobacco industry had decided to produce doubt as our product. since it is the best means of competing with the body of fact, that it exists in the mind of the general public, it is also the means of establishing a controversy. the key strategy is the creation of doubt about science. doubt is a perfect weapon. it's effective but also pernicious because tao is legitimately part of science. in fact, it's an essential driver of science. we investigate things because we have questions about them because we're curious or because we doubt the existing explanation is adequate. so we need doubt in science. the more good it will coll dileskimo wants to hold black hills. duke battles. you you don't see of this yet. you're less guilty. debbie or no. and the punk old old me collect 80 hold on a put

a duke kelly pon dome. i'll go enough night way with a civil and got jenny linda visually appealing to susie several denila then told jo funded whitlow, the dot c a c else a mash sell county company to gp to mon. only made these the but days don't last strategy. the duty seed of rocket barsoom, seattle's stub exit 58. i believe committed uncles to musical duke. so what the tobacco industry did was to take a virtue and turning to vice the use of scientific method against science itself. that's what these documents revealed. these windfalls enthuse historians and whistleblowers they have even inspired a new field of study. how many of you before this week? you something about the history of tobacco? yeah, most people. okay. this is naomi riscas teaches her students to identify historical obstructions of science of science. did we know the discovery of this long history

of deception has led to a new field of intellectual study, a new academic field, and it's called agnew itala g. and that means the study of ignorance. ag no. tal logy was born. now, academics attempt to unravel the main springs of our ignorance to look into what we don't know. a curious field of study. we were laughed at at 1st because people thought it was not academic to study the absence of knowledge to study ignorance. but i think people are, are laughing a bit less now and starting to be a bit worried because we sense and they realize how pervasive the problem might be . mm hm. what prevents us from knowing more people are asking this question, encouraging experts and ignorance to leave their universities and speak out publicly. but over the course of the talk,

all introduce different ways of thinking about ignorant and particularly this phrase strategic. we're going to ask you to think about example in your own life, a strategic ignorance, illinois fault liberals de la woocommerce. yep. de yos. just gather your answer. evelyn shall conical nipple. eco vogue take a little hole. that dealership mendoza best work it no or pods. e x eve murdered the young. okay. yeah. so we're now invited to look for obstacles to our knowledge . things that holds the progress of science deliberately or not. and sometimes even what we prefer not to know, unraveling all that is no small issue. that's why the study of ignorance or ag natal edgy needs to progress methodically. and it's a fascinating field of inquiry with contributions from psychology, sociology, history, political science, cognitive science, computer science network,

science. there are lots of disciplines involved that can help us understand how ignorance is being manufactured and how we can protect ourselves against it. with this new awareness is still in its early days. but the races on because the strategic production of ignorance continues to be perfected to debunk it, we must often plunge into the detail of scientific practices in innovations regularly arrived on the market and with them a fair share of suspicion. are they a threat to our health and more importantly, at what dosage. that's the big question, the one that gives rise to the most terrible of battles.

one of these battles began in this laboratory one day in 1989. carla sunshine and anna soto are both biologists for years they have been trying to solve the mystery of cellular proliferation and cancer. suddenly, before they're very eyes, some control cells cultivated in a test tube began to proliferate for no apparent reason. it was a real sherrill caults investigation, trying to find out where it came from because that is the 1st thing you have to do . i then defy what is the source. they review each piece of lab equipment for months of suspense. and finally, they had their culprit, the centrifuge tubes they were made of a material that should have been inert, but wasn't the plastic used contained and dispersed

a substance that acted like the hormone estrogen? girls and i were very disturbed by this finding. we thought that this was a big deal if you can find such a substance here, can it be elsewhere in toys? bottles, food containers in all the plastics that end up in the environment. and how does it affect our organism? look like history on it. yeah. a doors. okay, let republic pray for. it was a saw hisco measure. boy, boy hasanti is a digital ass. if i am all amanda, talk about the effect of product x on health is what is studied by toxicologist. the accepted rule a centuries old. it's simple and seemingly makes good sense. the effect is proportionate to the quantity absorbed. it's true for sugar is true for fat is true for pretty much any product. according to the rules of toxicology,

the dose makes the poison. which by extension means that anything below the dose isn't a poison. according to this rule of plastic, with the characteristics of a hormone that ends up in a baby's mouth should impose any problem. because the quantity of synthetic estrogen ingested is tiny or true or false. this is the crux of the battle unique styles, given via shashana county rested in between, that becomes, i'll give it upon your experience of 40 shown as any will limit while boise divine re lexi duty the blessed. if you cannot accept louise finra, this has the structure, how and estrogenic drug, they are using a sex or mon to make plastic. this is insane.

for years, professor vom sal and his team observed mice exposed to different doses of bis fini lay. to measure the traces of the product they explored what happens at the limit of detection using ultra sensitive machines. and what they discovered, shook the world of science. in fact, the damage to the reproductive system was occurring at $25000.00 times below what had been considered a ghost that would cause no effect. we were absolutely shocked. simplicity. harbor. it's easy to see the admirable presume hazel like, present, got on. don't tell it. don't go in patsy desousa dance, but that was this. if a breeze on boston, i didn't know was i think it is mal canada's prefect. it bequest on boston,

some promot passcode, that book synchronous. yeah, grantaire dest lucidity to similarly true. i ought those in a test, shamae, extend, mahatma, len, this, you can see the same when he true, or those o'kelly's you must, or, i mean, you're not explicit. you saw the doors. i think this mat, ah, well, it shows the wrong when i just don't know. i mean you world. yes to see how this thing becomes the advocate. an engagement equals the trail. when so many find themselves worlds apart, we choose to look for common ground. failure to allow bond markets to reflect to market forces as resolved in

a bifurcation in the economy where the most corrupt are rewarded for committing crimes. j. p. morgan being a prime example. and if you have morals or ethics you're penalized. if you're not out there still sailing alluding, then you're going to be homeless. and that's america today, which is at this, i was told that lines here on our teeth. russia publishes a list of proposals to nato, for maintaining security. the country's deputy foreign minister saying the bold is now when the alliance is caught when it comes to the escalation. in the program, we dig into disturbing revelations that the manchester arena suicide bomber had linked to a former nato soldier tongue terrorist as an inquiry here submissions from the you case, home office and counter terrorism. police.