On 7 November 2020, moments before Kamala Harris and Joe Biden began their victory speeches, giant screens flanking the stage proclaimed, “The people have chosen science.” Yet, nearly 74 million Americans, almost half the voters, had cast their ballots for Donald Trump, thereby presumably not choosing science. Prominent scientists asserted that “science was on the ballot” and lamented that “a significant portion of America doesn't want science” (1). But before despairing at the loss of trust in science, we should be sure we are worrying about the right problem. Was “science” really on the ballot? Is it useful to imagine U.S. citizens as divided into pro-science and anti-science camps? Does the label antiscience serve the purposes of deliberative democracy? The answer to these questions is plainly no. A correct diagnosis is essential to repairing the sorry state of science-society relations in the United States.

2020年11月7日，在卡玛拉·哈里斯（Kamala Harris）和乔·拜登（Joe Biden）开始发表胜利演讲的那一刻，巨大的银幕在舞台两侧宣称：“人民选择了科学。” 然而，将近7400万美国人，几乎一半的选民为唐纳德·特朗普投票，因此大概没有选择科学。杰出的科学家断言“科学在投票之列”，并感叹“美国相当一部分人不希望科学”（1）。但是在对失去对科学的信任感到绝望之前，我们应该确定我们担心正确的问题。选票上真正的“科学”是什么？想象一下将美国公民分为赞成科学阵营和反对科学阵营的人有用吗？反科学这个标签是否服务于协商民主的目的？这些问题的答案显然不是。正确的诊断对于修复美国科学社会关系的令人遗憾的状况至关重要。