by Judith Curry
Until recently, there was little recognition within Japan’s science policy circle of the need to discuss the role of science in government policy-making. A rather innocent notion that the established knowledge and wisdom of scientists would ensure proper decision-making was prevalent. – Arimoto and Sato
Posted in Ethics, Policy, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
In pondering the challenges of climate change (both science and policy), it seems that academics have different perspectives from many other people, with a discriminator being professional decision making experience.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
We are starting to see blog discourse making it into academic papers, being the subject of presentations and conference sessions, and the development of blogs specifically to analyze the dynamics of other blogs. So, lets address the question raised in the recent presentation by Franziska Hollender:
What are blogs good for anyways?
Posted in Communication, Open knowledge, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
How and why did the scientific consensus about sea level rise due to the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), expressed in the third Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment, disintegrate on the road to the fourth?
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Steven Mosher
Science has changed. More precisely, in post normal conditions the behavior of people doing science has changed.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
Nature and Culture has a special issue on postnormal climate science.
[T]he concept of post-normal science helps to open up scientific discourse, to identify complex cultural and political situations, and to improve and extend the range of practices of an applied science. – Kraus, Schafer, and von Storch.
Posted in Policy, Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
I’ve been invited to write a paper on the topic of consensus in climate change.
by Judith Curry
The Internet has introduced a golden age of ill-informed arguments. But with all those different perspectives on important issues flying around, you’d think we’d be getting smarter and more informed. Unfortunately, the very wiring of our brains ensures that all these lively debates only make us dumber and more narrow-minded. – Kathy Benjamin, CRACKED
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
False positives and exaggerated results in peer-reviewed scientific studies have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. – John Ioannidis
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
This past week, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress to cut NSF funding of political “science” . This amendment . . . brings to light an important debate on the more fundamental nature and scope of science itself.
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
Alarming cracks are starting to penetrate deep into the scientific edifice. They threaten the status of science and its value to society. And they cannot be blamed on the usual suspects — inadequate funding, misconduct, political interference, an illiterate public. Their cause is bias, and the threat they pose goes to the heart of research.
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
In political debates that involve considerations of science, it is tempting to characterize scientists who demand particular types of action simply as political partisans. But when scientists make demands of the political process there is often more going on than just an effort to achieve political gain for one’s preferred policies.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
The results of the American Meteorological Society member survey on global warming are now available. Some surprises.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
There is a well-known story in the Bible about arrogance. People were speaking one language, engineering progressed, and they started to build a tower which they intended to make so high it would reach the heavens. In the story of the bible, God descended and confused he language of the people, so that they could not understand each other; and then they were scattered all over the earth.
I think that the meaning of this can be felt in large conferences, where we are thousands of scientists in hundreds of sessions, each one of us working in his own isolated domain, with hardly any knowledge of nearby domains, let alone of the big picture. So we think that what the story is trying to tell us is that good communication leads to progress, progress is followed by arrogance, and arrogance is followed by loss of communication, which leads to stagnation, which is, we think, where science is now.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
Naomi Oreskes:
When it comes to climate change, openmindedness is the wrong approach.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
The Dublin based Livewire Publications has produced a new collection of essays titled Science & Capital – Radical Essays on Science & Technology, with the intention to;
“bring together some of the more radical essays on science and technology written over the years – so as to highlight some of the dangers inherent in the blind trust we are often encouraged to place in science and scientific experts”.
Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
So…how do you tell when a research field is in the grip of an error cascade? The most general indicator I know is consilience failures. Eventually, one of the factoids generated by an error cascade is going to collide with a well-established piece of evidence from another research field that is not subject to the same groupthink.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Don Aitkin
In Australia, where I live, these weeks lead up to Christmas, and to the start of the summer holidays. The serious side of news lifts a little, and there is a more light-hearted air about many things. In that spirit, I offer the following little collection in the hope that those who read it will laugh a little, and feel prompted to add their own favourites. I’ve tried to be ecumenical in the selection. No single person has been cited more than once, to the best of my knowledge. And I’ve used no names. Here we go.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
Richard Feynman has famously stated: “Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
Press release from the Democrats of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee:
Three prominent scientists will present the best case yet for the end of climate skepticism in Washington and the world over the fact that the world is warming at a congressional briefing held by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.)
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
But the truth is that peer review as practiced in the 21st century biomedical research poisons science. It is conservative, cumbersome, capricious and intrusive. It slows down the communication of new ideas and discoveries, while failing to accomplish most of what it purports to do. And, worst of all, the mythical veneer of peer review has created the perception that a handful of journals stand as gatekeepers of success in science, ceding undue power to them, and thereby stifling innovation in scientific communication.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
The issuing of the BEST press release prior to peer review of the papers raises some interesting and provocative issues.
Posted in Sociology of science
by Judith Curry
I just received this email via Peter Webster from a friend in the UK:
Hi Peter
Woke up this morning to hear on the News that Judy is dismayed about something. What is Judy upset about?
Posted in Sociology of science
