Transcript Science, scientists, uncertainty, and advocacy

SCIENCE AS A WAY
OF KNOWING
SCIENCE AS A WAY
OF KNOWING
• Mysterious,
incomprehensible,
yet powerful?
• Difficult,
disagreeable, with
obscure details?
SCIENCE AS A WAY
OF KNOWING
• Faustian bargain
SCIENCE = GAINING
KNOWLEDGE
• Science: systematic, precise, objective
-- creativity
-- skill
-- insight
• Neutrality
• Sound science
unbiased
vs
junk science
SCIENCE = GAINING
KNOWLEDGE
1. Batteries
2. Bulb
3. Switch
Scientific Method
“As scientists we are
ethically bound to the
scientific method, in
effect promising to tell
the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but
– which means that we
must include all
doubts, the caveats, the
ifs, ands and buts.”
Stephen Schneider
http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/miracle.gif
THEORY
• With evidence from a group of related investigations
•
THEORY
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
• A broadly conceived, logically coherent and wellsupported concept
• Simplifies and clarifies our understanding of the world
• They are the concepts of which we are most sure and
may be tested and verified (not proven).
THEORY
• Proof is elusive! (science does NOT prove theories)
“It has been proven scientifically……….”
-- scientific interpretations always conditional
-- no absolute truth in science (varying degrees
of uncertainty)
-- acceptance of a theory is always conditional
SCIENCE AS A WAY
OF KNOWING
So why so much controversy given the
objectivity of the scientific method?
Why has science failed to provide the
certain and unbiased answers on which
good policymaking depends?
Uncertainty, which scientists treat as a
given, a characteristic of all information
that must be honestly acknowledged and
communicated.
Source: www.weeklyeye.com
Scientists and Environmental Advocacy
Scientists and Environmental Advocacy
Scientists and Environmental Advocacy
It is a scientist’s responsibility to honestly report the
range of plausible cases (i.e., what can happen?), their
associated probability distributions (i.e., what are the
odds of it happening?), and how such estimates are
made in any piece of research.
However, can scientists really be completely objective,
especially when it comes to controversial
environmental subjects like climate change?
If a scientist expresses a value preference or opinion
about a controversial topic, can he/she still provide an
unbiased assessment of the factual components?
Scientists and Environmental Advocacy
“We are not just scientists but human beings as well.
And like most people we’d like to see the world a better
place, which in this context translates into our working
to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climate
change.”
Scientific Literacy
“I think that scientific and environmental literacy can
empower citizens to begin to pick scientific signals out
of the political noise that all too often paralyzes the
policy process.”