4 ms·
people need to trust science because the average person doesn't have the scientific background necessary, much less the time, to evaluate the accuracy of everyt
by ausbah 5y ago
people need to trust science because the average person doesn't have the scientific background necessary, much less the time, to evaluate the accuracy of everything scientific they deal with - especially in the realm of medicine
like it's great you want to make things accessible and help people take charge of more things in life, but I don't think most people want that - and even of those who do say they want that, few will still take the time necessary to actually understand stuff correctly
which leads to the related issue that caused all the regulations and regulators we have today, people falling prey to snake oil salesman and downright harmful products in the marketplace. just look at the state of "nutritional supplaments" today
to me, I think people should just be more aware of the limitations of what they can really learn given the constraints of day to day life and accept that specialization is necessary to making modern society function - thus putting their trust in the appropriate authorities when necessary
but even that is a idealistic goal so idk
- kongin 5y ago> people need to trust science because the average person doesn't have the scientific background necessary, much less the time, to evaluate the accuracy of everything scientific they deal with - especially in the realm of medicine People need to be given the information they need to make informed decisions on topics that impact them. I don't have the time or inclination to figure out if the levels of heavy metal exposure for welders in the third world are dangerous or not because it doesn't impact me. I have plenty of time to figure out if any chronic disease I get has promising treatments that haven't been approved yet. For the doctor it's a matter of a 9 to 5 job, for me it's a lot more urgent. I just look at sci-hub and the citation web of any papers I find there. You're saying that the solution to having an ignorant population is to make them even more ignorant for their own good. That is the type of thinking that got us the dark ages.
- concordDance 5y ago> people falling prey to snake oil salesman and downright harmful products in the marketplace. Just have institutions enforce labelling rather than banning. If COVID vids had big banners put underneath them saying "disputed"/"unproven"/"speculative"/"known false"/"likely false" I'd be happy (as long as it includes a link to what standards they are using). Similarly, the FDA should be able to enforce accurate labelling stating what level of verification a treatment has had, not be able to ban it. If people still want to buy the snake oil (maybe they like how it feels on their skin?) let them!