I love science. More to the point: I love the scientific method. I think this is an important point to make because most everybody loves science. Humans love figuring things out, knowing facts, and we all get excited by new discoveries, but it seems that not everyone loves the scientific method. Or maybe not everyone understands it. I’m not sure which it is, but I hope it is the latter because that is easy to address and is something I hope to tackle in some of my posts on this blog.
It seems that many people see science as a noun, something that incorporates facts and trivia, the ability to list off the obscure properties of some organism or chemical, but in truth science is a verb.
Science is an active process that uses controlled observation and experimentation to help us understand ourselves and the world we live in. It is so simple and effective, yet has only been in use as an institution for less than 6% of human history. It just goes to show how much faith we put in personal experience and anecdotes as methods to define what we view as ‘truth’. One of the many things science has shown us is that we are terribly subjective in interpreting reality when left to our own devices and senses. That’s where a lot of problems come in. I find it frustrating to watch people fall victim to this type of thinking and am constantly trying to keep myself from making the same logical fallacies in my own beliefs and decisions.
I hope that through writing this blog, that not only will I help explain some of the more basic false assumptions we make (ie personal memory is reliable), but that it will also enable me to examine and research beliefs that I hold about how the world works. I expect the posts will center around exciting new research, rants about quack medical ‘cures’, logical fallacies in the main stream media, rants about the lack of support for good science education in public school, the occasional plug for skeptical artists, and more rants about irrationality.
That being said, I feel I should end on a positive note. I think there is a lot of beauty in the world and that it is enhanced by our ability to understand it. The night sky is beautiful to behold, but for me, knowing that I am looking at millions of stars and solar systems, some maybe like our own, makes it even more amazing. And thanks to science I know that I am a part of it, that I am made from star stuff.
-Lauriel
Hi Everyone,
In this first post, I would like to explain my reasons for starting this blog. Briefly, I would like this to be a place to express my views as a scientist on science, politics and other things that interest me. I know, this is nothing novel; the sidebar on this page has a list of links of similar sites that most likely do this as well or better than myself. However, I think that one of the weaknesses of scientists today is a lack of discussion in layman's terms issues both scientific and political and I'd like to do something to change that.
One of the things that drew me to science was the process of science itself. It's a system of formulating hypotheses, testing them, and based on the results either arriving at a conclusion, or (as is most often the case) modifying the hypotheses and retesting. It is a process that is slow, repetitive, and in many cases rather boring, but if done correctly it leads to results that can be trusted and built upon.
Working with this type of thinking, it bothers me when I see people promoting things under the guise of science that have not passed through the scientific method. Glaring examples of this are things like the anti-vaccination movement and efforts to remove or downgrade the teaching of evolution on the classroom. Both topics bring up a great deal of emotions and controversy, and along with it a lot of misinformation, in part by individuals with agendas that benefit from misinforming, and in part from researchers not disseminating information in a way that is useful to people outside of their field.
In my discussions in person and on the Internet, I get the impression that there is a general distrust of science and scientists. I think there are several reasons for this. One of the biggest is a distrust of the pharmaceutical industry, a major employer in the field and an industry that is not often worthy of praise. The rapid rise in health care costs over the past few decades are fueled in large part by the increase in the cost of prescription drugs, and while the costs of research is certainly a large part of this cost, the most visible expenditure of money by Pharma are the long and frequent ads on primetime television advertising pills for things like erectile dysfunction or restless leg syndrome.
Another reason people distrust scientists is a perceived notion that scientists and the medical community are elitists. In some ways these perceptions are propagated by people in the field. There is certainly no shortage of egos in science or medicine. In many cases however, scientists are simply not good at explaining their side of the story to the public. The job does not select for people with the greatest people skills, and the process of scientific research, writing, and peer review reinforces very precise wording and conclusions that are narrow and very technical. This often comes across as bookish and overly detailed, and intentionally confusing.
In the following posts my colleague Lauriel and I will try to open up the dialogue by discussing scientific topics we feel are misrepresented, misunderstood, or just plain interesting. I hope you like it, either way feel free to leave your comments.
-Adam
One of the things that drew me to science was the process of science itself. It's a system of formulating hypotheses, testing them, and based on the results either arriving at a conclusion, or (as is most often the case) modifying the hypotheses and retesting. It is a process that is slow, repetitive, and in many cases rather boring, but if done correctly it leads to results that can be trusted and built upon.
Working with this type of thinking, it bothers me when I see people promoting things under the guise of science that have not passed through the scientific method. Glaring examples of this are things like the anti-vaccination movement and efforts to remove or downgrade the teaching of evolution on the classroom. Both topics bring up a great deal of emotions and controversy, and along with it a lot of misinformation, in part by individuals with agendas that benefit from misinforming, and in part from researchers not disseminating information in a way that is useful to people outside of their field.
In my discussions in person and on the Internet, I get the impression that there is a general distrust of science and scientists. I think there are several reasons for this. One of the biggest is a distrust of the pharmaceutical industry, a major employer in the field and an industry that is not often worthy of praise. The rapid rise in health care costs over the past few decades are fueled in large part by the increase in the cost of prescription drugs, and while the costs of research is certainly a large part of this cost, the most visible expenditure of money by Pharma are the long and frequent ads on primetime television advertising pills for things like erectile dysfunction or restless leg syndrome.
Another reason people distrust scientists is a perceived notion that scientists and the medical community are elitists. In some ways these perceptions are propagated by people in the field. There is certainly no shortage of egos in science or medicine. In many cases however, scientists are simply not good at explaining their side of the story to the public. The job does not select for people with the greatest people skills, and the process of scientific research, writing, and peer review reinforces very precise wording and conclusions that are narrow and very technical. This often comes across as bookish and overly detailed, and intentionally confusing.
In the following posts my colleague Lauriel and I will try to open up the dialogue by discussing scientific topics we feel are misrepresented, misunderstood, or just plain interesting. I hope you like it, either way feel free to leave your comments.
-Adam
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