A Challenge for Scientists
21/02/11 14:13 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Submitted by S. Pelech - Kinexus on Mon, 02/21/2011 - 14:13.
The progress of science works best when its pursuit is undertaken with a mix of healthy skepticism and open-mindedness. While some erroneous ideas may become entrenched within mainstream science for a while, the self-correcting nature of scientific enquiry with further experimental testing and data collection eventually steers the inquiring community in the right directions. With the broad interface with the general public through the popular media, it is critical that those scientists that are highly informed on a controversial subject speak out, even if it is revealing of our actual ignorance on that subject. If anything, it justifies the need for further research. While there may well be political agendas that underlie some major news media, it is also important to these venues that they also exhibit some kind of credibility. The opportunity for readers to provide their comments in blogs and websites like this about controversial subjects over the Internet is a wonderful way to disseminate the thoughts of so many of us in the scientific community.
Link to the original blog post.
The progress of science works best when its pursuit is undertaken with a mix of healthy skepticism and open-mindedness. While some erroneous ideas may become entrenched within mainstream science for a while, the self-correcting nature of scientific enquiry with further experimental testing and data collection eventually steers the inquiring community in the right directions. With the broad interface with the general public through the popular media, it is critical that those scientists that are highly informed on a controversial subject speak out, even if it is revealing of our actual ignorance on that subject. If anything, it justifies the need for further research. While there may well be political agendas that underlie some major news media, it is also important to these venues that they also exhibit some kind of credibility. The opportunity for readers to provide their comments in blogs and websites like this about controversial subjects over the Internet is a wonderful way to disseminate the thoughts of so many of us in the scientific community.
Link to the original blog post.