Nice interview.
I couldn't help but chuckle when I read this:
"Q: There's some skepticism of, even hostility toward, science. Some people may like science when it gives them a smartphone but not when it challenges their worldview.
A: I believe it's primarily an American phenomenon. My explanation for it comes from my childhood as a Southern Baptist: It is the intense religiosity of most Americans. Why is it you have intelligent, well-educated people who are willing to deny all these [scientific] things — particularly evolution? The answer is, we're still a frontier country.
People come into a frontier country from areas that had theologians and hierarchies. But on the frontier, they're thrown on their own resources, settling land where the nearest neighbor might be miles away. They have no guidelines except one — faith in the literal acceptance of the holy Bible, St. James version, and that's what fundamentalism is. They regard science as just another way of knowing: There's law, there's religion, there's science, and why should we accept that?
Q: What are the consequences of this attitude on, say, climate change?
A: I've been asked this numerous times: Are we going to be able to pull this thing out in time? I believe in a dictum I first heard from the [deputy] prime minister of Israel, Abba Eban. He said, when all else fails, men turn to reason. Maybe this will happen in time, but right now we are pouring species and biodiversity down the drain for nothing."
