Science Acceptance: The Urban-Rural Divide

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Hank Campbell

At first glance, it might seem like urbanites would have a leg up on rural communities when it comes to science acceptance. Urban dwellers are generally better educated, which in the past has translated to greater wealth (1, see Notes below), and that translates into less thinking about basic needs and more about cultural issues. 

That isn’t really the case when it comes to science acceptance, though. Instead of being better educated, urbanites are more likely to accept fad medicine; more likely to believe organic food has no chemicals; less likely to vaccinate their children; more likely to believe electric cars are more efficient than gasoline-powered ones; and more likely to believe natural gas fracturing is polluting water.

Want to learn about the potential of Big Data for optimizing a process? Ask a farmer. Ditto for when it comes to operating a business on razor-thin margins and using science to make good food grow with less environmental strain and less water on less land than was ever possible in the past.

Then there is the urban and rural divide on tackling disease,,,,,,.

To Read More