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Singh has, I think, won the first battle in two very long wars. The first is, of course, the science one. The other being our idiotic libel laws. From this it
by ErrantX 16y ago
Singh has, I think, won the first battle in two very long wars.
The first is, of course, the science one. The other being our idiotic libel laws.
From this it's clear he's very switched on too (well, that was probably not in doubt but still). This, in particular, is an important point we face:
''Scientists aren’t necessarily good communicators, because they aren’t trained to be good communicators. A researcher could be doing really important work on global warming, and then somebody writes a column in a national newspaper that completely undermines what they’re saying.''
- nanairo 16y agoAbout your last quote, I think what we need is to have scientist dedicated to the communication side of science: aka scientific journalists. I know there are a few, but we need a lot more, and like many bits of science they'll need to be sometimes paid with public money. This seems to me the only way that you can keep the scientist working on the science, and still answer all the questions that people have. Basically large groups need their own public relation department. :)
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- nanairo 16y agoTrue, but what is the alternative? To be at the receiving end of all the mud-slinging? (Kind of like Obama and the Democrats in the USA ;) ) At least you would end up with people despising the think-tanks and not the scientist. :) Too optimistic? Of course in an ideal world journalist would start doing proper research and fact checking, but now we are talking sci-fi. ;)
- oihuyjfrgtdfghj 16y agoAnd he hasn't won the libel war battle, the other side simply retracted the case. So no court decision, no new case law and nothing to stop them issuing a new writ tomorrow and doing it all over again - or them doing it to somebody else who can't afford $200,000 in legal fees to defend themselves.