- In recent years, there have been a lot of catchphrases around science: “Follow the science!” “We believe in science!” Even “The science is settled!”
- Well, sometimes it’s not settled. Sometimes it’s not even really science. But lots of people believe in it or follow it anyway. It’s a global problem.
"Most recently, we learned that a widely noticed 2012 study co-authored by Dan Ariely — whom the journal Science refers to as a “superstar honesty researcher” — was based on fake data.
Ariely is indeed a superstar, and his work is highly influential.
He’s written multiple New York Times bestsellers.
He founded a center at Duke University.
...The only problem is, it’s not true.
...Did Ariely commit fraud — he says no...but in a way the problem is bigger.
Whether or not it was Ariely’s fault, a study that influenced policy turns out to have been baseless.
And scientific peer review, often defended as the gold standard for research, didn’t spot the problem.
...Even more dangerous than the things we don’t know are the things we think we know that are wrong. Bad science produces things that sound important — maybe because they match our prejudices — but that are wrong.
That’s not science at all, and we should neither believe in it nor follow it...Read all.
No comments:
Post a Comment