SCIENCE VS. DEMOCRACY
(Posted 2011-09-21 10:22:12 by ArchPaladin)

This particular post covers many different areas of conversation, so I'm
just going to throw it in this category.  It has a bit of a backstory, but
I want to throw the link [
http://www.situsci.ca/scientific-authority-democratic-societies-two-conclusions-bentley-allan
] [situsci.ca] in early, just so that it's available.

One of the medical listservs I am a part of an article was passed around
strongly criticizing an old publication of a classic introductory work on
East Asian medicine.  The responses to the article were along the lines of
what I linked to above is saying.  The general premise is that there is a
conflict going on between the exercise of scientific authority and
democracy.  The conflict is this: scientific authority attempts to hand
down the final word on a matter of public policy because the knowledge
generated by science simultaneously informs the policy debate and tries to
settle it.  However, science is made by fallible humans and subject to
political spin.  Furthermore, the authority of science conflicts with the
desires of people to do whatever they want to do (democratic autonomy).  As
a result, you see a lot of conflicts between people who say "Science
says..." with other people who don't really care (or have different studies
to back up a different viewpoint).

I have been surrounded by conflicts of this nature for a good part of my
academic life, but I have never heard it expressed so succinctly as in the
article above and in the posts on the listserv.  I find it valuable to have
it so clarified.

I think that within the next 10-20 years we are going to see a large shift
in how people approach science, and their views of its status in society. 
Specifically, I think we are going to see some scientific viewpoints
humbled a bit - in my opinion this is long overdue.

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