Saturday, June 20, 2009
The wrong kind of evidence
After two weeks I have just about recovered from Cheltenham, which was as usual a full programme of events all day and networking all night.
I was glad to see Simon Singh there. Simon’s outspoken criticism of the claims made by chiropractors has resulted in the British Chiropractic Association taking him to court for libel.
The British libel laws, long overdue for reform, work only to stifle free debate with the threat of enormous financial penalties. Science – like politics and the arts – relies on free and open discussion to progress. It’s deeply ironic that, 400 years after Galileo first used the telescope to make observations of the Moon, the law is still being used to restrict debate on matters of scientific evidence.
You can learn about the campaign to keep libel laws out of science here. I hope the campaign succeeds, and I hope it also refreshes the spirit of scientific enquiry that has been eroded lately.
The Royal Society’s motto is “Nullius in Verba” – “On the word of no one”, meaning that nothing should be taken at face value, everything should be tested against evidence and experiment. But in certain politically sensitive areas, dissenting voices are discouraged, ridiculed and sidelined instead of being challenged on the basis of their evidence.
Yesterday’s heretics, like Galileo and Darwin, are feted this year. Today’s heretics, who express scepticism about epidemics of childhood obesity, about the dangers of passive smoking or about the likely impact of climate change and how to tackle it, are seldom met with reasoned argument.
Which is a pity, because reasoned argument is not only the best way to make progress, but also one of the best uses of human time. That, and networking till dawn…
I was glad to see Simon Singh there. Simon’s outspoken criticism of the claims made by chiropractors has resulted in the British Chiropractic Association taking him to court for libel.
The British libel laws, long overdue for reform, work only to stifle free debate with the threat of enormous financial penalties. Science – like politics and the arts – relies on free and open discussion to progress. It’s deeply ironic that, 400 years after Galileo first used the telescope to make observations of the Moon, the law is still being used to restrict debate on matters of scientific evidence.
You can learn about the campaign to keep libel laws out of science here. I hope the campaign succeeds, and I hope it also refreshes the spirit of scientific enquiry that has been eroded lately.
The Royal Society’s motto is “Nullius in Verba” – “On the word of no one”, meaning that nothing should be taken at face value, everything should be tested against evidence and experiment. But in certain politically sensitive areas, dissenting voices are discouraged, ridiculed and sidelined instead of being challenged on the basis of their evidence.
Yesterday’s heretics, like Galileo and Darwin, are feted this year. Today’s heretics, who express scepticism about epidemics of childhood obesity, about the dangers of passive smoking or about the likely impact of climate change and how to tackle it, are seldom met with reasoned argument.
Which is a pity, because reasoned argument is not only the best way to make progress, but also one of the best uses of human time. That, and networking till dawn…
