Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
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Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#2Singh is a very talented science writer. The Code Book still ranks as one of the most engaging nonfiction books I've read. He managed to make a history of encryption into something of a gripping page-turner.
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#3Ben Goldacre is another good scientific crusader. It's worth reading his book Bad Science for his rants against the ridiculous poop-inspecting TV nutritionist "Dr" Gillian McKeith, and the more serious issue of quack medicine and its propaganda war against HIV/AIDS medication in South Africa.
Here's a taster, from his Guardian column: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/feb/03/badscience.ukn...
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#4Singh has, I think, won the first battle in two very long wars.
The first is, of course, the science one. The other being our idiotic libel laws.
From this it's clear he's very switched on too (well, that was probably not in doubt but still). This, in particular, is an important point we face:
''Scientists aren’t necessarily good communicators, because they aren’t trained to be good communicators. A researcher could be doing really important work on global warming, and then somebody writes a column in a national newspaper that completely undermines what they’re saying.''
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#5I was chatting with Simon about this a few weeks ago. He's definitely in this for the long haul, but is really looking forward to getting back to writing about science, not libel.
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#6"You have to decide who you trust before you decide what to believe."
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#7I was chatting with Simon about this a few weeks ago. He's definitely in this for the long haul, but is really looking forward to getting back to writing about science, not libel.
Nice to hear. I own all three of his science books and they are excellent. I wish someone else had spent five years fighting libel charges, and he had spent five years writing new books.
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#8Ben Goldacre is another good scientific crusader. It's worth reading his book Bad Science for his rants against the ridiculous poop-inspecting TV nutritionist "Dr" Gillian McKeith, and the more serious issue of quack medicine and its propaganda war against HIV/AIDS medication in South Africa. Here's a taster, from his Guardian column: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/feb/03/badscience.ukn...
Don't forget to mention Ben Goldacre's own website too which has more of the same stuff - http://www.badscience.net/
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#9I fear that as the scientifically correct action keeps getting further and further divorced from the 'common sense' action on any given issue, the two worlds will continue to divide, and as the distance increases, science will get harder and harder to follow.
The bridging has to be done by cultural evolution, so that the prejudices that form by 18 are not as counter-science as they are now, but even so, they cannot be adapted to future science when it's not yet in existence.
So we need a culture based on constant learning and adapting our views to evidence. Based on the amount of cognitive bias we have built-in, the 'uncoolness' of rationality, and the speed of scientific progress, I'm not hopeful save for deep de-biasing interventions on our hardware.
Let's see what 'anti-' movement that's going to raise.
Re: Author Simon Singh Puts Up a Fight in the War on Science
#10I know this really wasn't the platform for Simon to defend or assert his views but he certainly does a poor job of it. It seems the interviewer was soft-balling questions simply because he won in court. Blindly trusting scientists because they're perceived experts, have advanced degrees or are in agreement in large numbers has historically been an unreliable way to judge whether or not something is in fact true.
I do agree that the "media" and "common sense" assumptions give more legitimacy to seemingly crazy ideas or counter-ideas. But simply dismissing all opposing viewpoints because they don't fit your scientific model is insane.
I think Simon needs a little more years under his belt (wisdom) and maybe another PhD in history to make him aware of this historically painful fact.
Also, he's a great example of why average people dislike academics. Just being smarter is not enough to convince people. You actually need to listen to them, and learn to communicate with them in order for them to trust you. And isn't that what Simon wants?