Regular readers may remember a post of mine a few weeks ago about a public talk to be hosted at the University of Waterloo (Canada) on "the importance of trust in science and technology." (Link to original thread at bottom of this post).
Well, I just came home from that talk, and long story short... I shook hands with the enemy.
The panelists were three professors who lead the newly formed Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology (TRuST) scholarly network, moderated by the host of our local CBC radio morning hour. (CBC is the government-funded national news network that went hook, line and sinker for the covid narrative).
My impression is that the profs are genuine people who genuinely believe in the merits (and flaws) of scientific enterprise, and who genuinely don't understand why people have lost trust in that enterprise.
I was wrong in my initial understanding, based on the event flyer, that there wouldn't be audience participation. There was, indeed, quite lively and well-moderated live audience participation. I got to speak into the microphone and address my concerns about how these kinds of (very important!) discussions frequently fail when one side gets referred to right off the bat as 'those people' or victims of 'misinformation'. That comment was well received.
I went up after the event to speak with the member of the panel who seemed to me the most reasonable, and shook her hand. (This was the dean of engineering, who was ready to admit bluntly, when questioned about covid science policy failures, that isolating kids at home during lockdown was a bad idea). I told her that I know they're hoping to hear from people on the other side of the fence, and that I'd be happy to talk further.
Whew!
So we'll see where that goes. Folks, the way I see it we are in a war, a war that may be in a state of truce at the moment, but which is far from over, and which must eventually end the way all wars do: with diplomacy and negotiation. I'm not ready to trust the people who started this war, or to cease my preparations for the next round, but if I can be part of the backroom conversations that lay the foundations for some kind of eventual regeneration of public trust (including but not limited to trust in science) then I'd like to give it a try.
Dylan
Original thread about the Trust Science event here: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/245054.html?thread=42807614#cmt42807614
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branchandroot
Trust in Science, Revisited
Date: 2023-09-13 01:30 am (UTC)Well, I just came home from that talk, and long story short... I shook hands with the enemy.
The panelists were three professors who lead the newly formed Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology (TRuST) scholarly network, moderated by the host of our local CBC radio morning hour. (CBC is the government-funded national news network that went hook, line and sinker for the covid narrative).
My impression is that the profs are genuine people who genuinely believe in the merits (and flaws) of scientific enterprise, and who genuinely don't understand why people have lost trust in that enterprise.
I was wrong in my initial understanding, based on the event flyer, that there wouldn't be audience participation. There was, indeed, quite lively and well-moderated live audience participation. I got to speak into the microphone and address my concerns about how these kinds of (very important!) discussions frequently fail when one side gets referred to right off the bat as 'those people' or victims of 'misinformation'. That comment was well received.
I went up after the event to speak with the member of the panel who seemed to me the most reasonable, and shook her hand. (This was the dean of engineering, who was ready to admit bluntly, when questioned about covid science policy failures, that isolating kids at home during lockdown was a bad idea). I told her that I know they're hoping to hear from people on the other side of the fence, and that I'd be happy to talk further.
Whew!
So we'll see where that goes. Folks, the way I see it we are in a war, a war that may be in a state of truce at the moment, but which is far from over, and which must eventually end the way all wars do: with diplomacy and negotiation. I'm not ready to trust the people who started this war, or to cease my preparations for the next round, but if I can be part of the backroom conversations that lay the foundations for some kind of eventual regeneration of public trust (including but not limited to trust in science) then I'd like to give it a try.
Dylan
Original thread about the Trust Science event here:
https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/245054.html?thread=42807614#cmt42807614