<\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday I posted a somewhat knee-jerk vote in favor of the idea of a science debate<\/a>. Poking a little at the enormous lists of blog posts on this topic that A Blog Around The Clock<\/a> has collected, one finds that while most people are definitely in favor, some people aren’t entirely convinced. The concern typically seems to be some variant\/subset of “It’ll be too technical, the general public doesn’t care\/understand, the candidates will get it all wrong, and there’s no way to correct that sort of thing in a live debate”.<\/p>\n

These are real concerns. The NPR sponsored debate early in the year (involving non-politician panelists) on the question “Global warming is not a crisis”<\/a> made me want to throw things. There should be a special punishment for dissembling people like Crichton, but unfortunately the scientists arguing that there is<\/em> a crisis were largely ineffective in their responses. One was condescending to the audience and their ability to understand (and got rightly booed for his troubles), and they all allowed red herrings to distract the discussion, creating a “teach the debate” atmosphere depressingly similar to the whole creationist nonsense.<\/p>\n

In short, there’s a good chance that the whole thing could go pear shaped if not handled well.<\/p>\n

But that’s no reason not to do it.<\/p>\n

Just because these issues are complex doesn’t somehow make them less important or worthy of public discussion. Their importance, however, does put a greater burden on everyone (scientists and politicians included) to step up their game and find ways to make sense of these issues in a public forum. I would argue, for example, that it’s part of the job<\/em> of politicians to help the public understand complex issues, and if they’re not doing that we damn well ought to complain. I’m near the end of Goodwin’s wonderful A team of rivals<\/em> about Lincoln and his cabinet, and it’s clear that one of his great gifts was helping both individuals and the general public understand<\/em> the truly monumental issues that faced the U.S. at that time. He didn’t do this by talking down or over simplifying or dissembling. He did it through honesty, careful thought, and a keen intelligence. And he was largely successful.<\/p>\n

I suspect that if we had a science debate there would be much that would be depressing and broken about it (especially in it’s inaugural incarnation). But that’s where the press (and the blogosphere) comes to play, taking it all apart, pointing out the misconceptions and unsupportable nonsense. The debate starts<\/em> a vital conversation, says science and technology are crucial in our affairs (duh), and encourages us all to continue the debate long after the TVs are turned off. A debate like this isn’t going to convert creationists into evolutionary biologists, or hard core believers in climate change into denialists; it’s unlikely to affect the poles in any significant way. What it can do, however, is signal to the middle that these are important, complex ideas, and that asking questions and paying attention might be a good idea. That it matters where and how your food and energy are produced, how you move yourself around your world, and what medicines really make sense for a cold or earache.<\/p>\n

So I’m full square in favor. Even if it isn’t gonna be perfect, it really needs to be done. Now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I posted a somewhat knee-jerk vote in favor of the idea of a science debate. Poking a little at the enormous lists of blog posts on this topic that A Blog Around The Clock has collected, one finds that while most people are definitely in favor, some people aren’t entirely convinced. The concern typically … Continue reading “No, I really do<\/em> think we need a science debate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15],"tags":[33,74,47,865,866,73],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-science","tag-blog","tag-change","tag-debates","tag-politics","tag-science","tag-technology"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90sy-c3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":745,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/12\/12\/science-debate-its-about-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":0},"title":"Science Debate: It’s about time!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"12 Dec 07","format":false,"excerpt":"w00t! There's a group pushing for a presidential science debate focused on the many scientific issues that face us nationally and worldwide. Their call: Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":141,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/04\/30\/a-draft-of-a-strib-letter-on-the-id-silliness\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":1},"title":"A draft of a Strib letter on the neo-creationism silliness","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"30 Apr 05","format":false,"excerpt":"I've just spent way too long flailing away in the horribly cramped confines of 150 words trying to write a letter to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on the whole ID-in-schools silliness. I wrote about a zillion drafts, and WeatherGirl expertly poked holes in one after another, sending me back to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":700,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/17\/could-lincoln-ever-been-elected-under-these-conditions\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":2},"title":"Could Lincoln have been elected under these conditions?","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"17 Nov 07","format":false,"excerpt":"Great - it looks like the networks are parceling out speaking time in the debates according to candidate's poll standings, adding yet another layer of \"The rich get richer\" to American politics. I'm going to go to bed and cry and leave you to learn more on your own: Political\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":527,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/04\/07\/about-which-the-philosophy-of-science-teaches-us-nothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":3},"title":"“…about which the philosophy of science teaches us nothing”","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"7 Apr 07","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been wading through tons of backed up e-mail and listening to the fine Rage Against The Machine album which Sub-Evil Boy and I bought last week. The album ended, and the next thing in iTunes happened to be a Science on Guardian podcast that I hadn't gotten around to.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"How science is done","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/38\/103784837_fda1bffa76_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2006\/01\/01\/chalk-up-another-one-in-favor-of-the-liberal-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":4},"title":"Chalk up another one in favor of the liberal arts…","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"1 Jan 06","format":false,"excerpt":"...and from a somewhat unexpected venue. CIO.com is (in their own way) touting the value of a liberal arts education in computing. Maria Klawe, the author of the piece, feels that \"career opportunities in computer science are at an all-time high\" and: We\u2019ve got to spread that message among students\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computing"","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roman glass","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.flickr.com\/12\/14169920_2bf297d9ef_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":690,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/12\/some-must-see-tv-tomorrow-night-for-those-in-the-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":5},"title":"Some must see TV tomorrow night (for those in the U.S.)","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"12 Nov 07","format":false,"excerpt":"As has been noted elsewhere by many (e.g., PeeZed), tomorrow night (Tuesday, 13 Nov) PBS is airing Judgement Day. This is a Nova program covering in considerable detail the ins and outs of the trial two years ago in Dover, Pennsylvania, that was, at its heart, about whether \"intelligent design\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}