What could scientists do about ‘post-truth’?

Abstract

A recent article in the Economist points out that politicians have lied for as long as there has been formal politics and politicians. Few would disagree that scientists have lied (or dissembled or misled) for as long as there has been codified science. Whether in the form of prevailing, dominant ideology (for example, the sun goes around the earth and Lysenkoism) or personal ideology (vaccines cause autism; HIV does not lead to AIDS), science is not lacking in deceitfulness and claims made in the absence of seriously demonstrable truths.