What do you, good folk of Twitter, believe to be the most pressing debate about modern science?
I thought that was a great question, so wrote:
The most important debate about science is how to convert scientific information into public action.
And I really wanted to see what other people had to say. The wording of “about” science is important here; it’s not asking for the most important debates in science. A few broad themes came up...
Public trust and public policy
I see debates re cloning, GM, MMR, stem cell etc. all as symptoms of a single 21stC malaise: who to trust, who to believe? - ruthseeley
the woeful lack of scientific literacy in the media. - cromercrox
Perceived lack of acknowledgement of importance of science/evidence in govt., policy-making etc. (another pov) - EvidenceMatters
To teach the public to be comfortable with uncertainty. - silentypewriter
How to accurately communicate to the public what we know we know and what we don't know we don't know. - JATetro
I think most pressing science issue is lay mistrust of science. Without some consensus, much else is moot. - nparmalee
Medicine
I think the most "pressing" debates all stem from what to do energy/environment/health wise with this many people on planet - ktg72
most pressing debate: at what point does human population growth override the need for medical progress? - museumoftechno
Climate change
How to stop climate change and avoid being the cause of a mass extinction event? - imascientist
Global warming: a habitable planet would be useful - loopysue_p
Surely how to tackle global warming - what could be more pressing? - twitandtweeter
As others have said, nothing really compares to global warming, i.e. the continuing existence of the human race! - jjaron
most pressing debate? Actually, I think climate change. Major public sketicism + large possible effects, for the lose. - Luna_the_cat
Science as profession
In that case, the most pressing debate is whether and how to fix the broken scientific publishing, funding & career system. - kejames
Depends on which pov. Researcher - poor funding, career prospects in UK. Public - 'balance' of reporting and science apps. - EvidenceMatters
peer review reform - blandiloquent
Space
the future of space exploration. i.e., to decide that the time has come to get ourselves a space elevator. - doroncalo
Robot overlords
the rise of the machines. nano tech and it's viral future. interests and scares me most. - ColtSeaversPS
'in' modern science = e.g. the singularity, abiogenesis; - kejames
Silliness
The development of Hover-boards. Only 6 years away!!! - FantasticMrOx
1 comment:
Let's make sure that no science money is spent in a way that could further the problem instead of solve it. We should strive to limit jargon, too.
Post a Comment