During a recent biotech science communications meeting, I sat on a panel where the discussion turned to the need to present a clear scientific consensus on the safety of GMO technology.The question was over which percentage and which group of scientists would present a convincing number (in line with the famous “97% consensus” on climate change). There was, in the room, a palpable need to express how the science was right (that GMOs were safe) and present that in an overwhelming manner.
Imagine the uncomfortable tone in the room when I growled: “I don’t need to be right on GMOs … I need you to be right.” The more we concentrated on presenting an agreed upon consensus (a political position), the less we focused on getting the facts out in a proper manner (the scientific position).
David Zaruk is a professor based in Brussels writing on environmental-health risk policy within the EU Bubble. He writes a blog under the name: The Risk-Monger.
A scientist’s responsibility is to ensure that the body of knowledge advanced is correct and the best way to do that is to continually challenge it. In Popperian terms, a science is more robust the more it resists falsification. If we spend our energy trying to agree with each other (confirming our need to be right), we might be blinding ourselves, coming across as arrogant or intransigent, possibly even hurting our position.
A consensus is a political tool thrust upon a scientific community by lazy policymakers. Rather than making hard decisions on societal questions over a technology that imposes both uncertainties and benefits (the role of a risk manager), politicians would rather simply declare: “The science says this!” and hope the general public would accept it....
More @The Risk Corner: GMO Consensus: I Don’t Need To Be Right … I Need You To Be Right | EuropeanSeed:
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