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Science can FIX it! Whatever “it” is. Whatever “science” is…

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From New Scientist:

Unconscious biases and data-torturing are weakening our knowledge base – but unlike politicians and bankers, scientists aren’t covering up their failings

I started hearing in the mid-90s, about how scientists were going to fix all that stuff, but they didn’t actually do much better than politicians and bankers.

Science cannot afford to be complacent. Over the past few years there has been a creeping realisation that while bad apples are few and far between, there is a deeper problem. The barrel itself may be rotten.

Take heart! Bad apples are rarely the problem. They rot. It’s the good apples we need to watch.

What about the problem of reliable knowledge? On this front, things might also not be as bad as they seem. Last month, Science published a follow-up to the reproducibility paper arguing – ironically – that it used flawed statistics. Correct for these, and almost all 100 studies were reproducible, its authors claimed.

That, of course, may be just another case of torturing the data; the authors of the original paper have accused those of the new one of selectively interpreting the numbers. And it doesn’t absolve other problematic branches of science. More.

What’s mainly nded here is intellectual freedom and watchfulness.

Keep up to date with Retraction Watch
See also: New Scientist astounds: Information is physical!

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Comments
evnfrdrcksn Do you mean me or GC? Why are you using these threads to make make unjust accusations and personal malice expressions? Why are you allowed to post with that quality of character? I'm not saying you shouldn't as i believe in free speech and reasonableness and getalongness. If you love this blog then join in and bring others. you don't need to ban people. These are important and interesting threads and should not be hijacked by people like you for your extreme political/social beliefs. Say something intellectually interesting and take us on. After the event in Orlando please leave the malice behind.Robert Byers
June 14, 2016
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Why is this guy allowed to post here while other, more interesting posters are banned? He's racist, sexist, just plain dumb, and no one ever responds to him. At least the banned posters get your dander up and get your site page views.evnfrdrcksn
June 14, 2016
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Unfortunately, science suffers from the same weakness as any institutional organization. Inertia, incompetence and corruption.Gordon Cunningham
June 13, 2016
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Human intelligence can fix as gar as we can. I don't know. Science is just a tool of method to help sure up conclusions. All these problems reveal the truth. Its just people figuring things out. So people get it wrong. YES biases and twisting data. We can't help it. Being craeful doesn't fix it. Science won't fix human failure in investigation. This is why evolutionism not only was wrong but was wrongly excluded from a rethink for so long in these small circles that study it. Evolutionism was full of human error but hiding this under the annoitment of SCIENCE. The realization everywhere that science is really people thinking MEANS the option for error in origin subjects has become more credible to everyone. ID/YEC are johnny on the spot with our criticiusms. It would of been harder 40 years ago when science was not related to human failure.Robert Byers
June 13, 2016
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