Re: [pf] "The New Uncertainty Principle"

by Betsy Barnum

12 December 2000 22:21 UTC

David A wrote:

> Some of you might find this interesting:
>
> "The New Uncertainty Principle: For complex environmental issues,
> science learns to take a backseat to political precaution," Scientific
> American, January 2001.
> http://www.sciam.com/2001/0101issue/0101scicit1.html

Wow, David, nicely done!

I thought the one fellow's comment from the Institute of Economic Affairs
was very illustrative of how science is bastardized in the hands of
economics.

"Critics asserted that the principle's definition and goals are vague,
leaving its application dependent on the regulators in charge at the
moment. All it does, they alleged, is stifle trade and limit innovation.
"If someone had evaluated the risk of fire right after it was invented,"
remarked Julian Morris of the Institute of Economic Affairs in London,
"they may well have decided to eat their food raw."

Does this guy really think humans "invented" fire? Sheesh! How much
scientific knowlege does one need to understand the difference between
early humans learning to use fire, a basic force on Earth since the
beginning of time (and without ignoring their profound respect for the
power of fire), and humans inventing chemicals and lifeforms that have
never and would never come into existence through natural processes?

Not only that--clearly, humans did eat their food raw before they learned
to use controlled fire. So what? There are people today who believe a raw
food diet is the most healthful, and they are just fine. So what does this
guy mean?  I read his comment as the typical justification for all
technology--"innovation always makes our life better." This argument, as I
read it, seeks to end the discussion by framing the subject in an
oversimplified manner that drips with contempt for anyone who would
question "science" or the fundamental importance of economics (trade) or
the idea that every new thing that can be thought of should be made and
used.

Thanks for good writing and a balanced, well-structured article, David.

Betsy

--
Betsy Barnum
bbarnum@wavetech.net
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1624

**************************************
The key political values that emerge from the Constitution are frozen in
the ice of eighteenth-century elitism. We allow the privileged to rest
comfortably in a set of social relations that call exploitation freedom
and the empowerment of the rich democracy.

--Jerry Fresia, Toward An American Revolution