Bush: Science? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Science!
One more item in a very long list: Bush ejects two from bioethics panel. What do you do when prominent scientists on your advisory panel tell you your policies are a bad idea from a scientific perspective? Fire them, and replace them with less-prominent scientists who agree with you. Problem solved!
Except, of course, for this: Science, by definition, is all about understanding reality as it is, not as you would have it be. Once you start intentionally stacking the deck to allow “your” side to “win,” it’s no longer science. It’s make-believe.
Maybe if you’re the kind of president who doesn’t read much, and got a C average in school, and was more interested in partying than studying, you don’t mind having a make-believe science panel. But see, it’s a problem. Because the president needs science advisors, and he needs them to be honest scientists, not just puppets chosen to repeat back the positions he’s already decided will work best for him politically. Because science, for all its imperfections, is the best tool we have for understanding the non-obvious aspects of the universe. And it’s important to have that perspective when you’re making decisions that will have a direct and lasting impact on a good chunk of the planet’s population.
July 28th, 2004 at 2:29 pm
Actually, Bush does not need scientists. He has all those religious leaders to tell him what is right and wrong. Science has nothing to do wiht his agenda whatsoever. it does, in fact get in the way. Those darn stem cell people sure sutir up a lot of trouble for him. And all those words to pronounce. Forget it. Lets play golf and ride a mountain bike.