Antecedentes de estudios relacionados con la GIRSU

The word ‘panic’ is one of the most frequently used words appearing in discussions on Weibo, suggesting that panic as an emotional response to GM technology widely exists and should not be ignored by policy-makers. As many users have realised, stemming from the inherent uncertainty of GM technology and people’s limited understanding of it, the emotion, panic, creates opposition to using the technology.

Wangxiaojian_ouger Aug 23, 2014

My supervisor recommended a book called ‘The Lonely Spring’, which shocked me. We should be very careful about harmful things, such as pesticides and GMOs, which are damaging human-beings. Otherwise, we’ll regret.

Quyaogaoya Aug 23, 2014

GM is neutral actually, as an advanced technology. What makes it good or harmful is the way it is used, like how iron is used for making a plow or forging a sword. If people have no right to decide the way to use, it will be better for them to reject it. It makes sense to encourage scientific experimentation of GM technology with the support of governments rather than promoting the application of GMOs broadly. People cannot be too cautious to

131 the problems relevant to subsistence.

Chenludexiaowu Aug 23, 2014

Replying to @Quyaogaoya I always tell the truth. It is completely a good thing if the public response is panic to GMOs. On the one hand, the panic emotion induces governments to strictly carry out the procedure of examination. On the other hand, the absence of GM labelling will also be widely challenged under the pressures of panicked emotion among the public, which benefits from the assurance of food safety.

HaidelixiDoing_H Aug 24, 2014

Replying to Quyaogaoya: I actually have some ideas about what the opponents are opposing. Different opposing voices target different objectives. Some are afraid that GMO food does harm to their own genes (which is bullshit), others are afraid of poisoning due to the accumulation of harmful ingredients which some believe might be discovered in the future. In this case, I’m more curious about why people feel panic than what they are opposing.

Hytwml Aug 24, 2014

Why do people have little interest in this issue which is relevant to everybody and the future generations? How could entertainment news be so hot while GMOs—this biochemical weapon destroying the Chinese race—attract no attention? Is this nation blinded by the

authorities to its glass-roots? Why can’t we unite and work together to resist toxic GMO

food?

Here, panic was clearly indicated by the phrases the discussants used to describe GM technology, such as ‘biochemical weapon destroying the Chinese race’ and ‘damaging to human-beings’. The panic expressed by user ‘Wangxiaojian_ouger’ can be seen from the phrase he/she used to describe GM technology. In his words, GM is ‘damaging to human-beings’ and should be treated carefully. Otherwise people will have regrets in the future due to the irreparable consequences of GMOs. ‘Quyaogaoya’ compared

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the relationship between GMO and GM food to different uses for iron. He/she believed that, similar to the multiple ways humans make use of iron, such as building a plow for agricultural production or casting a sword for killing, GM is an emerging technology with no benefit or harm attached, originally. What makes GMOs controversial are the way humans make use of the technology. In his/her view, if people haven’t found out the best way of using GMOs at the moment, it would be better to remain cautious, which looks like panic. ‘Chenludexiaowu’ deemed that people’s panic in response to GM technology might be an effective way of forcing the government to pay attention to the governance of GM technology, basically to improve the efficiency of supervising work, which ‘is a good thing’ for food security in China (see the comment of

‘Chenludexiaowu’ on page 129). Discussant ‘HaidelixiDoing_H’ was trying to explain the causes of panic, which is believed by ‘Hytwml’ as reasonable and acceptable given unknown future risks. ‘Hytwml’ even described GM as a ‘biochemical weapon’ that may destroy the whole ‘Chinese race’ and tried to raise more support for anti-GM actions.

Nearly all the people expressing panic are opponents of GM technology. Discussants directly expressed panic through their user-generated content. As described above, all kinds of reasons make people uneasy, which also demonstrated their varying cognitions and judgements about GMOs. With respect to conversation cited above, panic originates from uncertainties concerning GM technology in the future, or to be more specific, the potential risk of GMOs. This fear of the unknown illustrates one of the main controversial issues concerning the public. Faced with uncertainties and misinformation about GM technology, people engaged in discussion on Weibo shared their own thoughts and worries in response to any comment or challenge from other participants. The emotion of panic could be seen as a specific manifestation of public engagement that takes place on social media.

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