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Scientists and Engineers for America

Chris O.

Critical Thinker
Chris O.
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
453
From www.sefora.org :

September 27, 2006: Today a group of scientists and concerned citizens launch a new organization, Scientists and Engineers for America, dedicated to electing public officials who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy.
Make the politicians behave!
www.sefora.org
 
Gosh, this organization rings a bell. Didn't we have a poster recently that wanted to mandate this exact same thing?

I've got no problem with elected officials being scientists, what bugs me is when/if someone tries to enforce the requirement.

As is in the case of religion, This is far less likely to make politics scientific as as it is to make science political.
 
Chris O. said:
Today a group of scientists and concerned citizens launch a new organization, Scientists and Engineers for America, dedicated to electing public officials who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy. Make the politicians behave!
Click to expand...

I can accept that science might provide some decent policy advice.
But those darn engineers will just screw everything up.
 
I really don't see the connection to technocracy, except in the most general sense of agreeing that "science sure is awesome, huh?" Technocrats believe that society should be thoroughly reorganized according to very specific "scientific" principles so as to maximize welfare, which is... a pretty radical idea. These guys are just saying that Federal policy should use scientific analysis, and that society and government should let scientists do their thing. Maybe there's some quantity of "liberal ********" in that, but I don't see the technocracy.
 
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SwissSkeptic said:
You mean this guy?
Click to expand...


Yeah, I'm not going that direction. This group seems to just seek enough members to carry enough weight to reward or punish politicans based on their treatment of science, and scientists. So that maybe they'll think twice before twisting results to support their polices.

Just a group of voters who stand for something.
 
Chris O. said:
Yeah, I'm not going that direction. This group seems to just seek enough members to carry enough weight to reward or punish politicans based on their treatment of science, and scientists. So that maybe they'll think twice before twisting results to support their polices.

Just a group of voters who stand for something.
Click to expand...

I like science.
I love science.

Problem is, when science meets politics, science goes to pot.

No. I'm more against mixing politics and science than I am mixing politics and religion.
 
Chris O. said:
From www.sefora.org :

September 27, 2006: Today a group of scientists and concerned citizens launch a new organization, Scientists and Engineers for America, dedicated to electing public officials who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy.
Make the politicians behave!
www.sefora.org
Click to expand...
Excellent initiative!
 
Trully, a good initiative. It is a sad comment on society that this sort of organization is necessary, but cet la vie.
 
DanishDynamite said:
I think there is a word for this sort of illogic....
Click to expand...

Yea, it's called realism. Things that sound good, things that work 'on paper', don't necessarily work in the real world. Science is a pick-and-choose field. More to the point, science is, to a great extent, a politically funded field. Mix the too and science comes up with the results the politics demand, not the other way around.
 
Rob Lister said:
Yea, it's called realism. Things that sound good, things that work 'on paper', don't necessarily work in the real world. Science is a pick-and-choose field. More to the point, science is, to a great extent, a politically funded field. Mix the too and science comes up with the results the politics demand, not the other way around.
Click to expand...
I had another word in mind, but nevermind.

No one has claimed this initiative will work, on paper or otherwise. It is, however, a very good initiative as I generally trust that a scientist is more rational than a non-scientist.
 
DanishDynamite said:
I had another word in mind, but nevermind.

No one has claimed this initiative will work, on paper or otherwise. It is, however, a very good initiative as I generally trust that a scientist is more rational than a non-scientist.
Click to expand...

Rational includes the prospect of the next paycheck.

Scientists are people too.
 
Is this always you topmost worry regarding grassroot initiatives? Or is it just your topmost worry in general? Is there any organization that you do support, despite this worry?
 
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