Science, Truth, Sound bites & The News

December 7, 2009

About once a day I make the fundamental error of either turning on the radio and hearing a news broadcast or watching the news on TV. Big mistake.
I usually feel, either I have tuned in to an advert for something, by someone who has something to flog, but no necessary brand name, or I am being introduced to a message about the faith I should have in the brand ‘science’.
Since when did something become right because someone, calling themselves a scientist, and quite possibly not only being one but being a really smart one, claims to have proven something. I was always taught that science was not a way to prove anything, what happened to the null hypothesis?

I mistakenly believe, apparently, that tiny incremental bit by tiny incremental bit we weed out what is not actually correct about the way the world works, and so finally one day we will sort of understand a bit about ourselves and our world. So, how come I keep being told that today scientists have proven something, either that every adult with half a brain has known for the last millennium or that some study that covers a microcosm of existence has at last proven the truth of something?
Whether it is about climate change, where the truths of various kinds are vehemently told by variously funded ‘scientists’ or about how some new insight from the field of say Biology has now at last answered some fundamental question. Why are we supposed to be given nothing to think about, nothing to debate, nothing to wonder about? What makes the sound bite, the tiny fragment of information, so valuable and acceptable to us today?

Phill Boas

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

About the Cynefin Company

The Cynefin Company (formerly known as Cognitive Edge) was founded in 2005 by Dave Snowden. We believe in praxis and focus on building methods, tools and capability that apply the wisdom from Complex Adaptive Systems theory and other scientific disciplines in social systems. We are the world leader in developing management approaches (in society, government and industry) that empower organisations to absorb uncertainty, detect weak signals to enable sense-making in complex systems, act on the rich data, create resilience and, ultimately, thrive in a complex world.
ABOUT USSUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Cognitive Edge Ltd. & Cognitive Edge Pte. trading as The Cynefin Company and The Cynefin Centre.

© COPYRIGHT 2024

< Prev

What should I read?

For years I have seriously and semi systematically read the right books, the ones everyone ...

More posts

Next >

Personal Responsibility vs Rules and Regulations

I wondered today if I was alone in a futile search for the opportunity to ...

More posts

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram