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Anita Makri argues that the form of science communicated in popular media leaves the public vulnerable to false certainty.
What is truth? How do we find it and does it still carry weight in public debate? Given recent political events, these are important and urgent questions. But of the two industries I work in that are concerned with truth — science and journalism — only the latter has seriously engaged and looked for answers. Scientists need to catch up, or they risk further marginalization in a society that is increasingly weighing evidence and making decisions without them.
[...] What's overlooked by many is how science is losing its relevance as a source of truth. To reclaim this relevance, scientists, communicators, institutions and funders must work to change the way that socially relevant science is presented to the public. This is not about better media training for researchers. It demands a rethink about the kind of science that we want to communicate to broader society. This message may sound familiar but the new focus on post-truth shows there is now a tangible danger that must be addressed.
[...] If the public is better equipped to navigate this science, it would restore trust and improve understanding of different verdicts, and perhaps help people to see through some of the fake news that circulates on scientific matters.
http://www.nature.com/news/give-the-public-the-tools-to-trust-scientists-1.21307
What do you think, will the general public trust these tools, if available ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @05:04PM
The end of empire for the US seems clear, once we break free from oil there won't be much left to retain control except straight violent warfare. The world is undoubtedly sick of our shit, and its no more evident than when the citizens themselves say they've had enough...
You make good points, but I do think the article brings up a good point. Scientific journalism has always been laughed at, so figuring out ways to improve the journalism side will help. If we just throw up our hands and let bullshit news run free without good counterpoints then we're complicit in the problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @01:33PM
The end of empire for the US seems clear, once we break free from oil there won't be much left to retain control except straight violent warfare.
Not necessarily. US has much more soft power than military power, even though its military power is uncontested by any other nation state in the world.
The world is undoubtedly sick of our shit, and its no more evident than when the citizens themselves say they've had enough...
Unfortunately, the soft power is not soft enough, or not used as such enough, because in last several decades you pumped up the zeal through the roof and started "hardening" your soft power, turning it in nothing more than ideological pretext for usage of hard power, both internally (hence the Trump) and internationally. The problem is that when pursuing some good ideas for betterment of society, you must not indiscriminately persecute and dehumanize dissenters, ... well, at least not without rounding them up and stripping them of their voting rights ... (just kidding).