Political Usage
See also: Politicization of scienceMany issues damage the relationship of science to the media and the use of science and scientific arguments by politicians. As a very broad generalisation, many politicians seek certainties and facts whilst scientists typically offer probabilities and caveats. However, politicians' ability to be heard in the mass media frequently distorts the scientific understanding by the public. Examples in Britain include the controversy over the MMR inoculation, and the 1988 forced resignation of a Government Minister, Edwina Currie for revealing the high probability that battery farmed eggs were contaminated with Salmonella.
John Horgan, Chris Mooney, and researchers from the US and Canada have described Scientific Certainty Argumentation Methods (SCAMs), where an organization or think tank makes it their only goal to cast doubt on supported science because it conflicts with political agendas. Hank Campbell and microbiologist Alex Berezow have described "feel-good fallacies" used in politics, where politicians frame their positions in a way that makes people feel good about supporting certain policies even when scientific evidence shows there is no need to worry or there is no need for dramatic change on current programs.
Read more about this topic: Science, Science and Society
Other articles related to "political usage, political":
... a "major league asshole." The gaffe was caught on microphone and led to a political advertisement chiding Bush for "using expletives.. ...
... Yaroslav Bilinsky, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware, writes in the Journal of Genocide Research (1999) in a review of ... My argument, however, is that both logic and political usage in Ukraine point in one direction, that of the terror-famine being genocidal ... seems to have been designed as part of a campaign to destroy them as a political factor and as a social organism ...
... or think tank makes it their only goal to cast doubt on supported science because it conflicts with political agendas ...
Famous quotes containing the words usage and/or political:
“...Often the accurate answer to a usage question begins, “It depends.” And what it depends on most often is where you are, who you are, who your listeners or readers are, and what your purpose in speaking or writing is.”
—Kenneth G. Wilson (b. 1923)
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