Flat Earth, astrology and democracy: why scientists defend skeptical thinking
October 5, 2026 · 13 min read
Ann Druyan argues science has a role in a democratic society, Brian Cox discusses flat Earth belief, social media and democracy, and Brian Keating explains why astrology fails when tested. They make the case that knowing how to test a claim is a civic skill, not just a scientific one.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Druyan: a democratic society built on technology needs a public that understands the methods of science.
- Druyan: science belongs to everyone, and it gives its highest rewards for proving it wrong.
- Druyan: sticking to the facts matters even more if you are not a scientist.
- Cox: conspiracies assume governments are far more competent than they are.
- Cox: science requires being comfortable with not knowing, not being very clever.
- Cox: everything comes back to education, including teaching children to handle social media.
- Cox's bot test: ignore accounts whose timelines are purely political.
- Keating: ask whether a claim could ever be shown wrong; if not, it is unfalsifiable.
- Keating on astrology: controlled studies find no better than chance, and the zodiac skips a constellation the sun passes through.
- Keating: confirmation bias affects everyone, scientists included.
- Keating's motto after his own retracted result: go as fast as you carefully can.
- Druyan, citing Sagan: skepticism must not cost you wonder, and wonder must not cost you skepticism.
- Testing settles claims that make predictions, not questions of value.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.