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Science qua science can provide humans with (close to) objectively accurate information, obviously constrained by the limits of human understanding of the natur

Science qua science can provide humans with (close to) objectively accurate information, obviously constrained by the limits of human understanding of the natural world and the technology we have to measure phenomena. What science can't do is the following: * Science cannot make risk-management decisions for people. Weighing the known and unknown rewards and risks of some human decision and choosing what human action to take based on objective information is outside of the realm of science. No, the science cannot make choices for humans. Rational and smart people, when presented with the same scientific evidence, can make different choices. For instance, there have been many times in the past when the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration have had differing opinions on whether or not some drug ought to be approved. Risk management is a different topic than science, yet they get wrongly conflated every day on TV these days. * Science cannot make value judgements or ethical decisions for humans. There are some hills that humans find to be important enough to be worth taking some risk for. Science cannot decide whether "freedom" is important enough to risk dying for, yet rational humans have made and will continue to choose freedom as long as free will exists.

didibus 5y ago
I agree on the second part, science cannot decide what we humans want for ourselves and value and prioritize. Science is a means to an end, the end is what we have to decide for ourselves. But when it comes to risk-management, I think science plays a big role, it can allow you to assess risk and predict probability of outcomes. That's super important in risk-management. What science cannot do is decide your risk appetite, risk tolerance as well as risk preferences. You also need to choose which scientific model you also believe in the most, and when limited experimentation has occurred, science cannot help you choose, though more scientific research could give you comparative data between two scientific models that can help you choose. But all this takes time. And when time is limited, science can't take its normal course, that's where human judgement is necessary.

didibus 5y ago

I agree on the second part, science cannot decide what we humans want for ourselves and value and prioritize. Science is a means to an end, the end is what we have to decide for ourselves. But when it comes to risk-management, I think science plays a big role, it can allow you to assess risk and predict probability of outcomes. That's super important in risk-management. What science cannot do is decide your risk appetite, risk tolerance as well as risk preferences. You also need to choose which scientific model you also believe in the most, and when limited experimentation has occurred, science cannot help you choose, though more scientific research could give you comparative data between two scientific models that can help you choose. But all this takes time. And when time is limited, science can't take its normal course, that's where human judgement is necessary.