Denialism as a science? It could be a social science, the science of manipulating public consciousness to produce a predictable effect, the divergence of public opinion from fact.
What is denialism but a carefully researched, very refined and focused form of propaganda? The Pentagon's DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has launched a study into the neuroscience underlying propaganda, how people fall prey to indoctrination and the physical changes they undergo.
Existing technology can carry out micro-facial feature analysis, and
measure the dilation of blood vessels and eye pupils. MRI machines can
determine which parts of your brain is lighting up when it responds to
stories. Darpa wants to do even better.
In fact, it’s calling for devices that detect the influence of
stories in unseen ways. “Efforts that rely solely on
standoff/non-invasive/non-detectable sensors are highly encouraged,” the
Forget lie detectors; invisible propaganda-detectors are the future.
In effect, propaganda messes with your mind - at least if you're susceptible to it. And the denialism industry are past masters at the science of using propaganda to inculcate misconception.
An illustration of this emerged from a study released by Skeptical Science that found the scientific consensus supporting anthropogenic or man-made global warming at a solid 97% whereas public perception had just 45% believing that there was such a consensus. How did 55% come to believe that the issue was still unresolved?
When the Skeptical Science study came out it was promptly engaged by the denialists employing the five techniques of denialism:
A 2009 paper published in the European Journal of Public Health by Pascal Diethelm and Martin McKee discussed five characteristics common to scientific denialism:
1) Cherry picking;
2) Fake experts;
3) Misrepresentation and logical fallacies.
4) Impossible expectations of what research can deliver; and
5) Conspiracy theories;
These characteristics were present throughout the criticisms of our
paper, and in fact we found examples of each of the five characteristics
A detailed look at how each of these tactics was engaged is to be found in The Guardian. These techniques, of themselves, probably aren't science, but the neuroscience that underlies them obviously is.