Comparing Trump to people who believe in astrology, Bill Nye explains the pathology of Trump’s anti-science hysteria.

Earlier this week, in an alarming development, the Trump administration tried to silence government scientists. Multiple reports indicate the administration issued a gag order for both the USDA and the EPA. The order prevents scientists and other employees from sharing information with the public.

Appearing on MSNBC, Bill Nye “The Science Guy” had a chance to discuss President Donald Trump’s war on science. Nye compared Trump to people who believe in astrology, noting that weak minded people like Trump are so invested in their false beliefs that they are often unable and/or unwilling to accept facts that contradict those false beliefs.

The following is an excerpt from Nye’s remarks:

Well, any time you’re burning fossil fuels, you authorize more pipelines, you’re headed for trouble in the big picture. But in the bigger picture is this thing, you know, this word we love, ‘cognitive dissonance,’ this phrase. You have a worldview that disagrees with what you observe. So you might expect, if you were as open-minded as a scientist, as a scientifically-literate voter or taxpayer, you might expect that data would change your mind — but that’s not how people are. People on either side, the other side and this side, you double down when you find conflict, it’s called the ‘Backfire Effect,’ it backfires, and you get more entrenched in your worldview. For example, if somebody believes in astrology, it takes them about two years to get over it. You have to show them over and over there’s no such thing as astrology, it doesn’t really work, and then they let go. But everybody’s expectation that you’ll let go in a week is not going to be met. So our problem, everybody, is this doubling down, this backfire effect. So we have to work, I think, diligently in the science community to fight back. Of course there are the facts, we start with those. But there’s this human nature thing on both sides to fight back. We have our bubble over here, they have their bubble over there.

Nye is not the only one concerned with Trump’s war on science. In fact, Scientists are currently planning a march on Washington in response to the Trump administration’s attempt to silence scientists.

Bill Nye is a leading science educator, and the author of Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World; and, Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation.

(H/T Raw Story)