In various places including this podcast, I have written and spoken about how long I have engaged with pseudoscience and misinformation. By my count, I started including discussions about misinformation 15 years ago in my General Chemistry classes. It used to be a way to include some fun into a major’s level science class, as finding YouTube videos to share with my students led to some rather hilarious commercials being analyzed and then replicated in student projects.

These days, misinformation is so widespread, so virulent and so damaging that any discussions related to it has become a source of anger rather than anything productive. The anti-science sentiment among the general public, political punditry and our country’s leaders has turned misinformation into disinformation and that is quite a potent weapon to use.

No longer can citizens trust what the government says about science, given that a vaccine skepticism is part of the administration, given that climate change is being virtually ignored, given that we have no idea which secret groups are funding or lobbying various people within the government. This does not even touch the slashing of funds for government-led scientific research, which has put a hold on so many important research areas and funding support.

I know that most academic scientists will continue their work somehow, that private companies will still be researching new drugs and synthesizing them. But what about research into climate change? Into new energy efficient technologies? What about renewable energy? It feels like we are being set back at a time when we need to be ramping up research into ways of saving our planet and saving its people.

All of this has left me with a deep-seated and constant flow of anger that is very difficult for me to let go of. I am admittedly a very emotional person, although I tend not to show it on my face that much. I have made a significant effort to not appear angry about things like misinformation and politics in front of my students, because I do not feel like it is my place to influence them with my own personal beliefs and emotions. They deserve to be given the course material and other relevant information so that they can make their own judgements and not be influenced by me. I think some people might argue that I have a platform to try to influence students, at least in a positive way, to get them to think more caring for our planet and its people.

In fact, I am doing just that, but not in a way that puts me on a bully pulpit. Using my anger to try and influence my students is the wrong way to go about helping them become better citizens and hopefully citizen scientists. Anger can be a powerful tool in certain areas, but it can often have the exact opposite on people who are predisposed to avoid anger and other strong emotions, to resist authority, and who have a distrust of academics. There is that anti-science sentiment rearing its head again. I am both an academic and a scientist, so there can be a reinforced level of distrust from students and from community members.

So, what then do I do? The first thing I have to do is leave my anger at home, or in my office, and come to the classroom with an open mind, a calm demeanor, and willingness to speak clearly about my course material and present other relevant information in an unbiased way. That can be incredibly difficult on some days if there is news that I have seen that really upsets me. I do my utmost to leave the political aspects of any topic out of the discussion. Politics is so divisive that any conversation that involves politics could devolve into argument rather than good, level-headed discussion. This does not mean that I assume an argument will happen, but I have seen enough angry discussions in person and online that I want to avoid creating any kind of toxic environment. We have to respect our students’ ability to make choices for themselves. I have no doubt that they bring in experience and relationships with other people that affects what they believe. I am one voice to add to the chorus of voices that they must sift through. I even tell them regularly that I am just one voice and that they should listen to other voices. I can only hope that I can present my ideas, my arguments in a way that they will listen, digest, understand and then make choices that are better for themselves and for the community in general.