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Congress and science
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:07:05 -0700
________________________________________ From: Steven M. Bellovin [smb () cs columbia edu] Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 2:16 PM To: David Farber Subject: Congress and science There's an interesting -- and depressing -- article in today's NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/science/10phys.html) on the three physicists in Congress. The problem is that too many of their colleagues just don't understand what science is about. Sure, they can consult experts, as the former chair of the House Science Committee says their role is, but they first have to recognize that there is a technical issue; too often, they don't. The article has a fair number of stories showing that -- my favorite was the representative who thought game theory had to do with sports -- but this quote sums it up: For example, Mr. Ehlers said, it is irksome to encounter people who ignore the scientific consensus that human activity contributes to global warming yet count on science to produce new sources of energy magically. "They sort of reject our reasoning," he said. "But they will come back and say, `Science will find a way.' " --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Congress and science David Farber (Jun 10)