Conversation:
Notices
-
Ignoring science isn't just a Republican problem. It's an American problem. http://flip.it/5IWoG
-
I think you oversimplified the positions taken against scientific information. Certainly, there are notable cases of Republicans opposing an established scientific issue due to business interests, but they also oppose scientific matters when they are related to government imposition on the individual. For instance, a part of the Democratic party opposes vaccination because…
-
The other issues you raise are largely centered on logical fallacies, which many people in general are unaware are poor means of arguing.. After all, all human endeavors are made possible by some form of financial support; it's a red herring to point to science funding (which is modest compared to business profits or defense spending, which often benefits private industry)…
-
Yeah, I meant "falsely equated" (I was thinking of the logical fallacy called "equivocation" while I was typing and my brain betrayed me...!) I think we agree then that it's the process that matters. It will forever be impossible to separate the implications of scientific assessments from politics; after all, many scientific conclusions bear on human behavior, and the pro…
-
In general, all news media does a poor job of reporting on science issues. We need journalism students to spend more time in science courses, so that they are exposed to different applications of the scientific method in different disciplines. An interdisciplinary major program in colleges and universities would go a long way toward this. Even coupling a dedicated course o…
-
@benfell@cybernude.org @woodathon@loadaverage.org @sklaing@quitter.is You leveled a whole bunch of criticisms there. I am curious: how does science compare to other ways of knowing? Which ways of knowing are better at establishing reliable information about the universe? Certainly, science is not a perfect process.... which is why it must be repeated to establish reliabili…
-
@woodathon@loadaverage.org Can you explain what you mean by "there is a historical dimension"? Your concern is unclear. Please be specific. All things have a historical dimension. You need to explain how that is an issue for understanding the natural world and why it needs to be addressed.
-
To close this out from my side, I would say this. As a scientist, I don't claim to be certain about anything except those things for which there is overwhelming reliable evidence. I am certain that the sun will rise again tomorrow, although there is a tiny probability it won't. I am certain that the sky will be blue on a clear day as a result of Rayleigh scattering; though…
-
I don't believe in claims that there is a "western science" - I have too many friends and colleagues from poor towns in Columbia, big cities in India and China, small villages in Japan, and far-flung towns in Russia, to believe there is such a thing as "western this" or "eastern that" when it comes to developing reliable information about the natural world. We all interrog…
Stephen Sekula
All Hacker Poesy content and data are available under the