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No. It's perfectly valid to use science to inform your policy decisions. But the headline demonstrates the recent tendency to assert that scientists should be t
by nsxwolf 9y ago
No. It's perfectly valid to use science to inform your policy decisions. But the headline demonstrates the recent tendency to assert that scientists should be the ones ultimately making policy decisions. There's an important difference there.
- epistasis 9y agoThe headline does not demonstrate that, it's entirely an assumption from your own head. "Science was ignored today" doesn't even have an implication of scientists making policy.
- nsxwolf 9y agoIt absolutely does. Take two policy makers that both agree on the science of climate change. One advocates for a particular policy to mitigate the effects. The other decides that policy would be too expensive or cause other harms. The correctness of the science doesn't automatically mean the policy in question is wise.
- epistasis 9y agoIn your hypothetical situation, the headline would be an inaccurate headline.
- rbanffy 9y agoThe people who make informed decisions need to be informed. While unelected scientists are not in a position of dictating policy, reason dictates policy should conform to scientific knowledge.