Politics and science; is science being corrupted? (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, February 07, 2010, 14:52 @ dhw

In my post of 5 February at 12.05, I bemoaned the fact that we are dependent to a disastrous degree on so-called experts. I should also have highlighted our dependence on the media.

One of the scandals I’d mentioned earlier concerned an IPCC report, based on a report by the WWF, that a slight reduction in rainfall could reduce the Amazon rainforest by up to 40%. In last week's Sunday Times there was an article claiming that scientists condemned the WWF paper as being inaccurate and unsubstantiated. Today, the same newspaper has published letters from the Chief Executive of the WWF and from a co-author of the original report, insisting that not only are their figures correct, but their work has also been peer-reviewed and is based on sound evidence collated by respected scientists.

So who are we to believe? The layman only knows what he is told. Frighteningly, the people who must ultimately take the decisions which will affect millions of lives are equally dependent on the experts. But if the experts are chosen by politicians/entrepreneurs/industrialists with an agenda, what price the objectivity of science? And in fairness to the scientists, the media need stories, so what price the objectivity of the media?