Science and Social Policy

Should government policies be more dictated or informed by science?


Folksonomies: science policy public policy

Memes

30 DEC 2013

 Science is the Enemy of Kings

Kings and Priests have, in some cases, made partial pretensions to patronize the Arts and Sciences, as a cloak for their enmity towards them. They ever were, and ever will be, in reality, their direst foes. An advanced state of Science cannot benefit them. Their present distinctions, and misery-begetting splendour, could not be tolerated, when mankind shall so far be illuminated as to know the real cause and object of animal-existence. Common sense teaches us that good government requires non...
Folksonomies: science government
Folksonomies: science government
  1  notes

By getting to the roots of all things, it usurps their pretensions to power.

24 DEC 2013

 Science Should Settle Policy

The most important scientific concept is that an assertion is often an empirical question, settled by collecting evidence. The plural of anecdote is not data, and the plural of opinion is not facts. Quality peer-reviewed scientific evidence accumulates into knowledge. People’s stories are stories, and fiction keeps us going. But science should settle policy.
  1  notes

Susan Fiske on the truth of assertions and opinions as being testable.

24 DEC 2013

 The Problem With Experimentation in the Real World

Government policies—from teaching methods in schools to prison sentencing to taxation —would also benefit from more use of controlled experiments. This is where many people start to get squeamish. To become the subject of an experiment in something as critical or controversial as our children’s education or the incarceration of criminals feels like an affront to our sense of fairness and our strongly held belief in the right to be treated exactly the same as everybody else. After all, if ther...
  1  notes

Timo Hannay observes that we cannot experiment with classrooms and prisons because finding one experiment works means another didn't, creating winners and losers and offending our sense of justice.

13 MAY 2013

 Public Policy Shouldn't Bet on Science

You ask whether, given a choice, I would put more resources into space or AI. My answer is that either choice would be stupid. Politicians always want to make such choices too soon, because they imagine they can pick winners. Usually they pick losers. The only way to improve the chances for finding winners is to keep all the choices open and try them all. That is particularly true for space and AI, which are not really competing with each other. They are done by different kinds of people in d...
  1  notes

It will always bet wrong. All science should be open, free, and supported.

18 JAN 2013

 Bush Administration Science Abuses

After President Bush's 2004 reelection, scientists noticed that the problem was becoming even worse. One example was Bush's appointment of George Deutsch, a twenty-four-year-old Texas A&M University dropout and Bush campaign intern, to a key position in NASA's public relations department. Deutsch set to work muzzling NASA's top climate scientist. James Hansen, once refusing to allow Hansen to interview with National Public Radio because it was "the most liberal" media outlet in the countr...
  1  notes

From prohibiting studies that didn't fit their agenda, to refusing to approve drugs approved by the FDA, "faith-based initiatives", etc, etc.



References

30 DEC 2013

 An Address to Men of Science

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Carlile, Richard (1821), An Address to Men of Science, Retrieved on 2013-12-30
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: science
    Folksonomies: science
     8  
    19 DEC 2013

     This Will Make You Smarter

    Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Brockman , John (2012-02-14), This Will Make You Smarter, HarperCollins, Retrieved on 2013-12-19
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: science
    Folksonomies: science
     52  
    13 MAY 2013

     Interviews: Freeman Dyson Answers Your Questions

    Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article:  Dyson , Freeman (May 13, 2013), Interviews: Freeman Dyson Answers Your Questions, Slashdot, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  • Source Material [science.slashdot.org]
  •  3  
    08 JAN 2013

     Fool Me Twice

    Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Otto , Shawn Lawrence (2011-10-11), Fool Me Twice, Rodale Press, Retrieved on 2013-01-08
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: politics science
    Folksonomies: politics science
     24