Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Scientists Need to Stop “Othering” the General Public

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I have mixed feelings about this article. I agree that scientists should see themselves as a part of the general public. I also agree that some (not all) scientists should engage the public "not only to communicate their research, but also to encourage non-scientists to use the scientific method in everyday life." But I don't think scientists - not even Neil Degrasse Tyson - should be silent on issues on which they are not expert. If you are approaching an issue in a reasoned and scientific manner, then it is perfectly appropriate to voice your thoughts. Ours is a society not of experts but of the people, and if there is a problem with society it is not that we don't listen to experts, it is that we don't talk back to them.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 03, 2024 4:56 p.m.

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