Rather than a belief in science, believe in the scientific method
“Experts Ought to Be On Tap and Not On Top.” – George William Russell, 1910 This quote, which is possibly from a certain George William Russell from Ireland and first seen publicly in an Irish newspaper in 1910, puts forward a crucial insight and piece of wisdom that way too many policymakers seem to have…
Politicians who tell us they are just “following the science” need to be reminded of that
Over the past year or so, there has been continuous reference to complex social decisions as scientific, as though value judgments do not apply, or play only a limited role. Some of the most prominent examples include the designation of types of work as essential/non-essential. Liquor stores have been open throughout the pandemic, but access…
What do we make of the deluge of statistics and science, and pseudo-statistics and pseudo-science coming from all sources?
So-o-o-o-o … what’s new? Well, the Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, so there’s that. I’m very excited, up until the Edmonton Oilers are eliminated. After that, my interest in hockey falls to near zero, except for a hockey pool I entered. When researching which teams to choose, I was surprised to learn that the Tampa…
Who decided on the nearly uniform messages we hear on the pandemic and what to do about it? Our politicians defer to doctors who, in turn, look to the World Health Organization (WHO). When we realize who pays the WHO, the senselessness makes sense. Leave it to Ontario Premier Doug Ford to state plainly what…
Science is messy, and its bewilderment as to how to respond to Covid-19 is beginning to wear on people
News that not one but two COVID-19 vaccines have tested 95 per cent effective casts a welcome burst of light into Canada’s gloomy COVID-19 narrative, amid signs the pandemic is ripping into the nation’s social fabric. Moderna announced that its vaccine candidate proved 94.5 per cent effective in trials. Meanwhile, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech…
The pandemic has underlined that we should neither disregard nor worship uncritically at the altar of science
In addition to upending 21st century normalcy, the COVID-19 pandemic has shone the light on science itself. Just how reliable is it? It’s an interesting question. First, though, let me be open about my default settings. I’m generally very big on medical science, believing that without it I mightn’t be alive today. Ireland, where I…
Communication mistakes undermine the credibility of scientists at a time when trust is necessary to effectively combat the pandemic
By Derek Ng, Deborah Prabhu and Allan Bonner Contributors Crises make for strange bedfellows. It took the COVID-19 pandemic to forge a bond between journalists and epidemiologists. These two occupations have little in common. Journalist detest jargon and are admonished by editors for wordy prose. Epidemiologists publish in medical and scientific journals using the jargon…