Monday, May 31, 2004
from Environment: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.:
"...on matters of scientific fact, journalists employ an essentially unfair idea of ''balance'' -- [for example] treating global warming as though it were still a matter of open conjecture, with equal weight on both sides."
we also see this problem all the time in scientists "debating" pseudoscience or creationism, as if they were equally plausible sides of some argument. while there are uncertainties in any scientific "fact", they are often not as juicy as the "other side" ... most objections tend to be methodological, a factor ignored here or there, or a lack of generalizability, an aspect as yet unconsidered.
global warming may be a fact, but i don't think science really has the whole causality thing pinned down. until then, influence on policy should of the pascal's wager kind, rather than hammering the name of scientific certainty. (even the wager seems to me a strong enough argument for kyoto, and far more)
besides, it's so much easier to be environmentally conscious (which mostly seems to involve not doing something) than to, say, write a paper (which for some of us also seems to involve doing a lot of nothing ;P).
"...on matters of scientific fact, journalists employ an essentially unfair idea of ''balance'' -- [for example] treating global warming as though it were still a matter of open conjecture, with equal weight on both sides."
we also see this problem all the time in scientists "debating" pseudoscience or creationism, as if they were equally plausible sides of some argument. while there are uncertainties in any scientific "fact", they are often not as juicy as the "other side" ... most objections tend to be methodological, a factor ignored here or there, or a lack of generalizability, an aspect as yet unconsidered.
global warming may be a fact, but i don't think science really has the whole causality thing pinned down. until then, influence on policy should of the pascal's wager kind, rather than hammering the name of scientific certainty. (even the wager seems to me a strong enough argument for kyoto, and far more)
besides, it's so much easier to be environmentally conscious (which mostly seems to involve not doing something) than to, say, write a paper (which for some of us also seems to involve doing a lot of nothing ;P).
william hinton's obituary
