(Audio reading of today’s post.) The sort of questions science can and cannot answer and, perhaps even more importantly, how to use and interact with science (as a human endeavor) properly is something I try to cover (but too briefly!) in some of the classes I teach. But, although it has come up here and there, I haven’t tried to discuss it extensively in a Substack post so I thought, “that might be helpful to some people” (just, you know, force your homeschoolers to read it, I linked a quiz at the bottom… that part is a lie). I hope this post doesn’t come off as too “wow, science is totally messed up today”… obviously I love science, science used well is a great thing, but almost anything removed from its proper place and limits becomes trouble.
There is a problem, where people link to and discuss the preprints of studies as though they are definitive and determinative of the science. I'm not a scientist, but my understanding is that preprints are rough drafts: they often have quality problems, and they haven't gone through peer review to guard against those problems. (Relevant article from January: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/20/pandemic-brought-new-attention-preprints)
People circulate the preprints on social media; usually they will highlight whatever pieces of the findings confirm their opinions. The preprints get received as "the science" by the non-scientists. None of us consuming all these quick summaries of the preprints have time to follow up and read all the final papers that come after the preprints. Meanwhile, the scientists have their own confirmation bias, and certainly many of them active on social media are campaigning for a specific set of Covid policies.
There is a problem, where people link to and discuss the preprints of studies as though they are definitive and determinative of the science. I'm not a scientist, but my understanding is that preprints are rough drafts: they often have quality problems, and they haven't gone through peer review to guard against those problems. (Relevant article from January: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/20/pandemic-brought-new-attention-preprints)
People circulate the preprints on social media; usually they will highlight whatever pieces of the findings confirm their opinions. The preprints get received as "the science" by the non-scientists. None of us consuming all these quick summaries of the preprints have time to follow up and read all the final papers that come after the preprints. Meanwhile, the scientists have their own confirmation bias, and certainly many of them active on social media are campaigning for a specific set of Covid policies.