DOCSLIB.ORG

Waves of Controversy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Waves of Controversy Waves of Controversy Gene Technology in Dagens Nyheter 1973-96 Anna Olofsson WAVES OF CONTROVERSY Gene Technology in Dagens Nyheter 1973-96 AKADEMISK AVHANDLING som med tillstånd av rektor vid Umeå universitet för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen kommer att försvaras i sal L 216, Mitthögskolan i Östersund fredagen den 24 maj 2002 kl 13.15 av Anna Olofsson * C/1 v o . v Umeå universitet Umeå 2002 Olofsson, Anna. Waves of Controversy. Gene Technology in Dagens Nyheter 1973-96. Doctoral Dissertation in sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Umeå University, 2002. ISBN 91-7305-236-1 ISSN 1104-2508 ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the public debate on gene technology, between 1973 and 1996, in one of the agenda-setting media in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter. Gene technology is one of the latest controversial technologies which characterise our present Western society. The main concern of the study is the dynamic of this mediated debate on gene technology, which represents variation in the intensity and content of the debate over time. Potential controversies in this debate have also been a major focus. The study is mainly based on a quantitative content analysis of all articles published by Dagens Nyheter with gene technology as the main theme, but also on a qualitative text analysis of a smaller amount of articles covering controversies within the same population of articles. The results show that the debate has ebbed and flowed in a more or less regular way, as four waves, and that the number of articles increases over time. Different themes have been in focus at different periods of time, each corresponding to a wave: Risk and safety in the late 1970s, ethics in the early 1980s, regulation in the end of the 1980s and finally applications of gene technology in the 1990s. Therefore, the 'RERA hypothesis' was formulated, suggesting that the overall themes of the public debate on a new technology will follow this specific sequence. It is also shown that the coverage is divided between two separate types of debates, or media packages, one reporting latest news and discoveries, and one discussing the technology more critically. This latter debate covers the explicit expressions of the underlying controversy between the scientific and the humanistic view of technology in society. The author's main conclusion is that the public debate on gene technology follows a wave-like pattern corresponding to cycles of attention given to the issue, and that the characteristics are context initiated. Real world events trigger the underlying controversy between the scientific and humanistic point of view, which, if it fits media logic, is exposed in the media. The media package characterised by controversy brings with it the coverage of general news, and as the controversy ends, interest cools off and so does media attention. Waves of controversy arise. Key words: Mass media, public debate, agenda setting, content analysis, society and technology, STS, public discourse analysis, gene technology, genetic engineering, biotechnology, scientific controversies, resistance to new technology, s-curve, life-cycle models. Department of Sociology Umeå University WAVES OF CONTROVERSY Gene Technology in Dagens Nyheter 1973-96 Anna Olofsson Doctoral Theses at the Department of Sociology Umeå University No 29 2002 Department of Sociology Umeå University Thesis 2002 Printed by Umeå universitets tryckeri April 2002 ©Anna Olofsson ISSN 1104-2508 ISBN 91-7305-236-1 Olofsson, Anna. Waves of Controversy. Gene Technology in Dagens Nyheter 1973-96. Doctoral Dissertation in sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Umeå University, 2002. ISBN 91-7305-236-1 ISSN 1104-2508 ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the public debate on gene technology, between 1973 and 1996, in one of the agenda-setting media in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter. Gene technology is one of the latest controversial technologies which characterise our present Western society. The main concern of the study is the dynamic of this mediated debate on gene technology, which represents variation in the intensity and content of the debate over time. Potential controversies in this debate have also been a major focus. The study is mainly based on a quantitative content analysis of all articles published by Dagens Nyheter with gene technology as the main theme, but also on a qualitative text analysis of a smaller amount of articles covering controversies within the same population of articles. The results show that the debate has ebbed and flowed in a more or less regular way, as four waves, and that the number of articles increases over time. Different themes have been in focus at different periods of time, each corresponding to a wave: Risk and safety in the late 1970s, ethics in the early 1980s, regulation in the end of the 1980s and finally applications of gene technology in the 1990s. Therefore, the 'RERA hypothesis' was formulated, suggesting that the overall themes of the public debate on a new technology will follow this specific sequence. It is also shown that the coverage is divided between two separate types of debates, or media packages, one reporting latest news and discoveries, and one discussing the technology more critically. This latter debate covers the explicit expressions of the underlying controversy between the scientific and the humanistic view of technology in society. The author's main conclusion is that the public debate on gene technology follows a wave-like pattern corresponding to cycles of attention given to the issue, and that the characteristics are context initiated. Real world events trigger the underlying controversy between the scientific and humanistic point of view, which, if it fits media logic, is exposed in the media. The media package characterised by controversy brings with it the coverage of general news, and as the controversy ends, interest cools off and so does media attention. Waves of controversy arise. Key words: Mass media, public debate, agenda setting, content analysis, society and technology, STS, public discourse analysis, gene technology, genetic engineering, biotechnology, scientific controversies, resistance to new technology, s-curve, life-cycle models. mormor Contents 1 Introduction 1 Aims 4 Structure 4 2 The public debate on technology and the role of mass media 7 A public debate in a public sphere 7 Mass media in contemporary western society 11 Media as agenda-setter 14 Media logic 18 Science and technology in media 21 The public debate, in conclusion 25 3 Science and technology from a social perspective 27 Social perspectives on science and technology 28 The technocratic approach 29 Social shaping of technology 31 Social perspectives on science and technology, in conclusion 36 Two middle range theories 37 Scientific controversies 37 Diffusion of innovation 45 Science and technology from a social perspective, in conclusion 52 4 Implications of theoretical choices for design and method 55 Theoretical point of departure 55 Methodological considerations 59 Introduction to the empirical section 63 5 The overall picture and development of the debate 65 Dagens Nyheter's picture of gene technology 65 Attention structure of the debate 67 Content of the coverage 69 Actors in the coverage 72 Valuations 74 Summarising discussion 80 6 The dynamic of the gene technology debate 83 The dynamic of Dagens Nyheter's coverage of gene technology 84 Variations between different phases within the waves 86 Waves of salience in the public debate 89 Summarising discussion 92 7 Four waves of coverage concerning gene technology 95 The first wave, risk & safety 96 Risk & safety in the end of the 1970s 97 Summary 99 The second wave, ethical considerations 100 Ethics in the beginning of the 1980s 101 Summary 103 The third wave, regulation 103 Regulation in the end of the 1980s 104 Summary 106 The fourth wave, human applications 106 Human applications in the beginning of the 1990s 107 Summary 109 Differences among waves, changes over time 109 Research and development in the coverage 110 Similarities among the first three waves 112 Gradual changes over time 113 Summarising discussion 114 8 Controversies in the debate 117 The first controversy: Heated voices pro and con 118 DNA-laboratories - risky or not? 119 The importance of facts and the role of experts 119 A new kind of risk 121 Control and regulation 122 Information and trust 123 The ending of the controversy 123 The three levels of the controversy 124 The second controversy, gene ethics - a threat to democracy 125 Gene technology — natural or unnatural? 127 How to, and who should, define ethics? 128 Urge for public debate 129 The end of the controversy 131 The three levels in the controversy 132 Pandora's box in the end of the 1980s 132 Runaway development 133 Public control before it is too late 135 Is all knowledge of good? 137 The end of the controversy 138 The three levels in the controversy 139 Summarising discussion 139 9 Gene technology - waves of controversy? 145 The public debate — society and technology in interaction 145 The dynamic of the coverage — waves, intensity and themes 146 Gene technology, a matter of two parallel debates 148 Controversies in the debate as well as in society 150 The public debate 152 Gene technology in the public debate, in conclusion 153 Suggestions for further research 155 Concluding remarks 156 References 159 Appendix 1-4 Preface Before 1996 when this journey began, I had not paid much attention neither to gene technology nor mass media theory. Over the years, my interest and knowledge has grown and today I'm grateful that I got the opportunity not only to participate in an international research fellowship (the Biotechnology in the public sphere-people), but also to do my PhD on a subject so interesting as the role of new technology in society. The international research group has provided scientific support and inspiration, and it has given me new friends.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Role of Participation in a Techno-Scientific Controversy
    PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION Participatory Governance and Institutional Innovation [PAGANINI] Contract No. CIT2-CT-2004-505791 . Deliverable Number 16 Work Package 6 _ GM Food THE ROLE OF PARTICIPATION IN A TECHNO-SCIENTIFIC CONTROVERSY Larry Reynolds and Bronislaw Szerszynski with Maria Kousis and Yannis Volakakis 6th EU Framework Programme for Research and Technology Participatory Governance and Institutional Innovation [PAGANINI] Contract No. CIT2-CT-2004-505791 . Deliverable Number 16 WORK PACKAGE 6 _ GM FOOD THE ROLE OF PARTICIPATION IN A TECHNO-SCIENTIFIC CONTROVERSY Larry Reynolds and Bronislaw Szerszynski with Maria Kousis and Yannis Volakakis 1 The Paganini Project Focussing on selected key areas of the 6th EU Framework Programme for Research and Technology, PAGANINI investigates the ways in which participatory practices contribute to problem solving in a number of highly contentious fields of EU governance. PAGANINI looks at a particular dynamic cluster of policy areas concerned with what we call “the politics of life”: medicine, health, food, energy, and environment. Under “politics of life” we refer to dimensions of life that are only to a limited extent under human control - or where the public has good reasons to suspect that there are serious limitations to socio-political control and steering. At the same time, “politics of life” areas are strongly connected to normative, moral and value-based factors, such as a sense of responsibility towards the non-human nature, future generations and/or one‟s
    [Show full text]
  • EXPOSED Living with Scandal, Rumour, and Gossip
    EXPOSED Living with scandal, rumour, and gossip L /� MIA-MARIE HAMMARLIN EXPOSED Living with scandal, rumour, and gossip Exposed Living with scandal, rumour, and gossip MIA-MARIE HAMMARLIN Lund University Press Copyright © Mia-Marie Hammarlin 2019 The right of Mia-Marie Hammarlin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Lund University Press The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology P.O. Box 117 SE-221 00 LUND Sweden http://lunduniversitypress.lu.se Lund University Press books are published in collaboration with Manchester University Press. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library An earlier version of this book appeared in Swedish, published by Hammarlin Bokförlag in 2015 as I stormens öga ISBN 978-91-9793-812-9 ISBN 978-91-983768-3-8 hardback ISBN 978-91-983768-4-5 open access First published 2019 An electronic version of this book is also available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, thanks to the support of Lund University, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction provided the author(s) and Manchester University Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhetoric for Becoming Otherwise
    The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts RHETORIC FOR BECOMING OTHERWISE: LIFE, LITERATURE, GENEALOGY, FLIGHT A Dissertation in English by Abram D. Anders © 2009 Abram D. Anders Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2009 ii The dissertation of Abram D. Anders was reviewed and approved* by the following: Richard M. Doyle Professor of English and Science, Technology and Society Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Jeffrey T. Nealon Liberal Arts Research Professor of English Xiaoye You Assistant Professor of English and Asian Studies Robert A. Yarber, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Art Robert R. Edwards Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English and Comparative Literature Department of English Graduate Director *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT Rhetoric for Becoming Otherwise begins with the Isocratean premise that thought, speech, writing are best understood as bridges between the already said of language and the emerging circumstances that are the occasions for their production. This argument is rehearsed across a variety of domains and instances following Isocrates exhortation that the rhetorician or practitioner of philosophia can only model the movement of discourse without expecting to provide any “true knowledge” or “absolute theory” for how to encounter the problematics of an endlessly deferred present. As a matter of rhetoric, becoming otherwise is the continually renewed task of creating something new from the resources of language and for the demands of an ever deferred present—Presocratics versus Classicists (Chapter 1). As a matter of health, becoming otherwise is the necessity of overcoming limitation and suffering in order to achieve new norms of health and pursue the ever changing opportunities of a self‐developing capacity for producing new capacities—Normativity versus Normalization (Chapter 2).
    [Show full text]
  • National Distribution Lists of Media for the "Help" Campaign
    General SWEDEN DAILY PRESS Prioritized provincial press City Press Arbetarbladet Aftonbladet Barometern Dagen Blekinge Läns Tidning Dagens Industri Bohusläningen med Dals Dagblad Dagens Nyheter Borlänge Tidning Expressen Borås Tidning GT Dagbladet Göteborgs-Posten Dala-Demokraten Kvällsposten Eskilstuna-Kuriren/Strengnäs Tidn Metro Göteborg Falu Kuriren Metro Riks Folkbladet Metro Skåne Folket Metro Stockholm Gefle Dagblad Skånska Dagbladet Gotlands Allehanda Stockholm City Gotlands Tidningar Svenska Dagbladet Hallands Nyheter Sydsvenskan Hallandsposten Helsingborgs Dagblad Hudiksvalls Tidning Hälsinge-Kuriren Jönköpings-Posten Katrineholms-Kuriren Kristianstadsbladet Ljusnan Länstidningen Södertälje Länstidningen Östersund Motala Tidning Nerikes Allehanda Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar Norra Skåne Norra Västerbotten Norrbottens-Kuriren Norrköpings Tidningar Norrländska Socialdemokraten Norrtelje Tidning Nya Lidköpings-tidningn Nya Wermlands-Tidningen Piteå-Tidningen Skaraborgs Läns Tidning Skövde Nyheter Skaraborgs Allehanda Smålandsposten Smålands-Tidningen Smålänningen Sundsvalls Tidning Sydöstran Södermanlands Nyheter Tidningen Ångermanland Trelleborgs Allehanda TTELA Upsala Nya Tidning Vestmanlands Läns Tidning Värmlands Folkblad Värnamo Nyheter Västerbottens Folkblad Västerbottens-Kuriren Ystads Allehanda Örebro Kuriren Örnsköldsviks Allehanda Östersunds-Posten Östgöta Correspondenten Östran General Provincial Press Nya Kristinehamns-Posten Ale Kuriren Nya Ludvika Tidning Alingsås Kuriren Nybro Tidning Alingsås Tidning Nyheterna Annonsbladet
    [Show full text]
  • The Intimization of Journalism Transformations of Medialized Public Spheres from the 1880S to Current Times
    10.1515/nor-2017-0262 Presentation of the research program The Intimization of Journalism Transformations of Medialized Public Spheres from the 1880s to Current Times ANJA HIRDMAN, MADELEINE KLEBERG & KRISTINA WIDESTEDT The primary purpose of the project is to study mocratizing potential of representing and debtating what is included in and excluded from the mediali- private issues in the mediated public sphere? zed public spheres at different points of time dur- The project is concerned with media representa- ing the period of 1885 through 2005, with particular tions and constructions of the intimate sphere, as focus on themes and issues related to family, sexu- well as with intimacy as a manner of addressing the ality and “the private”. media audience. A tendency towards increased media attention to The empirical material includes newspapers and these subjects in the late twentieth century has been magazines of two early periods, i.e., the years widely noted. Some researchers see it as trivia- around 1885 and 1925. Other chosen periods are the lization, feminization or tabloidization, whereas oth- years around 1935, when radio will be included in ers prefer to talk about democratization and popu- the analyses, and 1965, 1980 and 2000, when tele- larization, stressing the broadening of public discus- vision is included, as well. sions to include issues previously not debated and The chosen periods capture significant changes in the inclusion of heretofore marginalized groups. We, journalism as well as in society – changes which raise for our part, have chosen the phrase “the intimiza- questions about boundaries between the intimate tion of journalism” to describe this process.
    [Show full text]
  • Nanoscience, Nanoscientists, and Controversy1
    Chapter 12 Nanoscience, Nanoscientists, and Controversy1 Jason Scott Robert 12.1 Introduction Contemporary life sciences and biotechnology research is controversial. Whether the topic is embryos, evolution, genetics, neuroimaging, pharmaceutical discovery, synthetic biology, or xenotransplantation, the research is subject to public, political, legal, regulatory, clinical, and/or scientific controversy. In some cases, the controversy may not be worth engaging, given the credibility (or, rather, lack thereof) of those who would object. Often, though, those who would object must be taken seriously— and even where the objectors lack credibility, any response to them must itself be serious. These are basic elements of civility in a pluralistic society, and yet they are widely ignored when science and scientists are the subjects of controversy. As a scholar of the life sciences in society, I have tended to pay less attention to the question of generally whether research in chemistry, math, physics, or engineering is as widely deemed to be controversial as is research in biology and biotechnology— except, of course, where that research is oriented toward or undertaken in concert with the life sciences (as with engineering in relation to stem cell biology, or chemistry in relation to directed molecular evolution). But with advances in nanos- cale science and engineering (NSE) research, it is hard to miss the fact that NSE is an exemplar of research in the natural and physical sciences that is controversial both in relation to the life sciences (as expected) but also in its own right. Whether because of the spatial or financial scale of the research, or because of the prospects for immense changes—good and bad—in science, industry, medicine, and society, or for a combination of these or other reasons, NSE research is paradigmatically controversial.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Decision-Making Under Scientific Controversy, Expertise, and the Precautionary Principle Olivier Godard
    Social Decision-Making under Scientific Controversy, Expertise, and the Precautionary Principle Olivier Godard To cite this version: Olivier Godard. Social Decision-Making under Scientific Controversy, Expertise, and the Precaution- ary Principle. C. Joerges, K.-H. Ladeur and E. Vos. Integrating scientific expertise into regulatory decisionmaking - National experiences and European innovations., Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft„ pp.39- 73, 1997. halshs-00624027 HAL Id: halshs-00624027 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00624027 Submitted on 15 Sep 2011 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Published in C. Joerges, K.-H. Ladeur and E. Vos (eds.), Integrating scientific expertise into regulatory decision- making - National experiences and European innovations. Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1997, pp. 39-73. Social Decision-Making under Scientific Controversy, Expertise, and the Precautionary Principle Olivier GODARD * Abstract Integrating scientific inputs into the regulatory process is generally attributed to experts. But, environmental issues are often characterised by an all-pervasive uncertainty and scientific and social controversies which make the experts' task difficult. This paper presents the concept of social decision-making under scientific controversy and comes to an examination of the implicit but decisive roles expected from expertise in those contexts.
    [Show full text]
  • Firman” - 76 Osakkaan Sukuyhtiö Albert Bonnier Ab
    Mediapiiri 2014/2020 ”FIRMAN” - 76 OSAKKAAN SUKUYHTIÖ ALBERT BONNIER AB Bernadottet valtaan 1810, Bonnierit aloittivat Kööpenhaminassa 1804, Göteborgissa 1827, Tukholmassa 1831, Wallenbergit aloittivat 1856 10.3.2020 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 2 1. Bonnier Group AB:n rakenne 2. Tunnuslukuja 3. Henkilöitä 4. Dresdenistä Kööpenhaminaan ja sieltä Tukholmaan 5. Kirjakauppaa ja kirjankustannusta 1837 - 6. Aikakauslehtiä 1900 – 7. Kolmas tukijalka: teollisuutta ja merenkulkua 1950-1990 8. Sanomalehdet 9. Juutalaisuuden merkitys 10. Firman ja sen omistajat 11. 2020 - 11.3.2014 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 3 Bonnier 2014 10.3.2020 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 4 Bonnier 2018 10.3.2020 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 5 Mediayhtiöt 2017 – TOP 100 World (Mrd €) Lähde: Nordicum 2019 • 5 News Corp. 32 • 13 Amazon 21 • 16 Bertelsmann 17 • 17 Sky 16 • 23 Hearst 10 • 28 Bloomberg 8 • 30 Lagardere 7 • 33 BBC 6 • 49 ITV 4 • 52 Springer 3 • 64 Bonnier 2,7 • 70 Daily Mail 2,3 • 71 Bauer 2,3 • 73 Burda 2,3 • 86 Schibsted 1,7 • 87 Sanoma 1,6 • 91 Egmont 1,5 • 100 De Persegroep 1,4 10.3.2020 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 6 Bonnier Group AB 2019 – Liikevaihto/tulos (MSEK) • Books 5 800 250 • Adlibris 2 300 -217 • Broadcasting 8 100 1 135 (11 kk) • SF Studios .. .. • Ventures .. .. • News 7 600 211 • Publications (DK) 1 200 142 • Bonnier Corp.(US) .. ..__ • Bonnier AB 25 000 1 520 • Fastigheter 700 478 • Boninvest .. .. • Koncernkostn. ? 10.3.2020 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 7 Liiketulos Bonnier News 2019 (EBITA MSEK) • Dagens Nyheter 117 • Di-gruppen 132 • Expressen/Lifestyle* 15 *aikakauslehdet • HD-Sydsvenskan -34 • Mittmedia -71 • Bold Printing 6 • Business to Business 100 • Övrigt -55 • Bonnier News 211 10.3.2020 Eero Sauri Suomalainen Sanomalehtimiesliitto 8 Sanoma/Bonnier • Sanoma 2019 • Liikevaihto 913 milj.
    [Show full text]
  • Hur Objektiv Är Den Svenska Storstadspressen?
    Hur objektiv är den svenska storstadspressen? - En granskning av 2014 års valrörelse Erik Elowsson Institutionen för mediestudier Examensarbete 15 hp Vårterminen 2015 Medie- och Kommunikationsvetenskap Handledare: Göran Leth Examinator: Anja Hirdman Sammanfattning I denna uppsats används kvantitativ innehållsanalys för att pröva storstadspressens objektivitet gällande rapporteringen om valrörelsen 2014. Storstadspressen definieras som de fyra stockholmstidningarna: Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet. Syftet är att kartlägga hur dessa tidningar rapporterar om sammanhållningen inom de två politiska blocken, Alliansen och De rödgröna, vilka konkurrerar om att bilda regering efter valet. Objektivitet har operationaliserats som opartiskhet, vilket avser att medier balanserar uppmärksamheten och graden av positiv och negativ framställning mellan parterna i ett givet sammanhang. Resultaten indikerade att storstadspressens rapportering av valrörelsen, med avseende på sammanhållningen inom blocken, gynnade Alliansen mer än De rödgröna och att skillnaderna mellan tidningarna var betydande. För två av fyra tidningar kunde partiskhetsutlåtanden göras, där en bedöms som partisk och en som opartisk. Dagens Nyheters rapportering bedömdes som partisk, då Alliansens fick betydligt mer uppmärksamhet och nästan uteslutande positiv uppmärksamhet, samtidigt som De rödgröna fick avsevärt mindre utrymme och mestadels negativ uppmärksamhet. Svenska Dagbladet å andra sidan lyckades balansera sin rapportering mellan blocken, både i fråga
    [Show full text]
  • Scientific Controversies: Authentic and Contrived [Post-Print]
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Faculty Scholarship 2017 Scientific Controversies: Authentic and Contrived [post-print] Mark P. Silverman Trinity College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/facpub Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Science & Education 26 (3) (2017) 397-405 DOI 10.1007/s11191-017-9886-2 The published article is available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-017-9886-2 Scientific Controversies: Authentic and Contrived M P Silverman, G A Jarvis Professor of Physics Trinity College, Hartford CT 06106 USA Email: [email protected] Web: mpsilverman.com Review of David Harker (2015) Creating Scientific Controversies: Uncertainty and Bias in Science and Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK. ISBN: 9781107706903, 266 pages, price (PB): $28.99 (paperback) 1 Characteristics of Real Science and Real Scientific Controversy Science is more of a journey than a destination. And, as to be expected of any journey taken by diverse travellers to an unexplored place, there may arise disagreements over how to get there, what is seen, and what it all means. If the place is relatively unimportant and the number of travellers few, the discord rarely spreads far. But if the destination is important, the travellers are many, and the outcome of getting there (or not) is consequential, disagreements can escalate into a broadly sweeping controversy with a lot at stake. Some 25 years ago, I had the pleasure of contributing an invited paper (M P Silverman, 1992, “Raising Questions: Philosophical Significance of Controversy in Science”, Science & Education 1: 163-179) to the inaugural volume of this journal on the provocative topic of the significance of controversy in science.
    [Show full text]
  • COVID-19 Pandemic and the Fool's Errand of Pseudoscience-Based Decision-Making COVID-19 Pandemic and the Fool's Errand of Ps
    TIO CA N A DU N COVID-19 Pandemic and the Fool’s Errand of E D 9 A 1 C - Pseudoscience-Based Decision-Making T D I I O V N O C Science is a very successful and reliable enterprise for denial or inappropriate skepticism — rejecting or creating understanding the natural world. Without science and the doubt about science in order to fabricate an illusion that a technology that stems from science, human population scientific controversy exists. Both forms result in and life-expectancy would be a fraction of what it is now. uncertainty about and resistance to reliable scientific Tombstones in cemeteries provide testimony of how knowledge and consensus. This leads to doubting the prevalent childhood and early adult deaths were prior to community of authentic experts and a hesitancy to act advancements in science. Ironically, the success of appropriately to very real problems. Most disconcerting is science and technology blinds many people to the realities the purposeful promotion of pseudoscience for personal, of life and death in the not-to-distant past. Those who economic, and/or ideological reasons. The COVID-19 faced the ravages of disease, common ailments, pandemic illustrates how pseudoscience promotes poor inhospitable weather, and other devastating realities of life decision-making that places all of society at risk, and how would be shocked at the advances that we now take for the navigation of information and identification of granted. They would likely be equally perplexed at the trustworthy expertise are crucial for better decision- significant and growing distrust of advances in science making.
    [Show full text]
  • CURRICULUM VITAE December 2020 Andrei Tatarenkov
    CURRICULUM VITAE December 2020 Andrei Tatarenkov CONTACT INFORMATION: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, and Biological Sciences-Minority Programs, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 Phone : 949-824-4747; Fax: 949-824-2181; E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://faculty.sites.uci.edu/tatarenk/ CITIZENSHIP: USA EDUCATION: 1982-1987 B.Sc. in Biology, Far-Eastern State University, (Vladivostok, Russia). February, 1995 Ph.D. in Genetics, St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg, Russia). PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS: 1987 – 1995 Researcher at the Laboratory of Genetics, Institute of Marine Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia. Advisor: Dr. A.I. Pudovkin. 1995 – 1996 Post-doctoral Researcher at Tjärnö Marine Biological Laboratory, Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden. Advisor: Dr. K. Johannesson. 1996 – 2002 Post-doctoral Researcher at Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, USA. Advisor: Dr. F.J. Ayala. 2002 – 2004 Principal Research Engineer at Tjärnö Marine Biological Laboratory, Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden. 2004 – 2005 Research Coordinator, Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, USA (Dr. John Avise Lab). 2005 – Present Associate Specialist, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Biological Sciences Minority Science Programs, University of California, Irvine, USA RESEARCH INTERESTS: Population genetics, molecular ecology, molecular evolution, phylogeography, genetics of speciation,
    [Show full text]