Find Your Valentine
Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguration / Science Obama's Love for Science
Posted by Jonathan Golob on Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 10:44 AM
The finest moment for science, in Obama's speech, came quite a bit after his declaration, "we will restore science to its rightful place."
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.
Ideas, programs, beliefs are tested by experiment. That's the end and all to science.
Any leader who insists on having his or her actions tested, having acts judged as working or not, embraces the deepest and most powerful ideal of science. He or she cannot help but set us on a course to succes.
(Continuing evidence? Stephen Chu, Obama's Nobel Laureate choice for Energy Secretary, made one more scientific breakthrough in physics before going to join the administration.)
4
The Luddites will now return to their cave in Texas, burn all of their books, and be very, very afraid of the dark. Meanwhile, the rest of us will try our best to fix the mess they've made of the country. God help us.
5
Mmm, right. That's why he wants to end funding for the space program and put the money towards low-income housing instead.
When he says he supports "science," it means "the science he believes in," e.g., "global warming." Everyone else can go fish.
Not all that different than the previous administration, really.
When he says he supports "science," it means "the science he believes in," e.g., "global warming." Everyone else can go fish.
Not all that different than the previous administration, really.
6
As a social scientist, I'm glad Obama's in office. McCain's misinformed pokes at funding research on bear DNA showed that he was going to continue the Bush admin's practice of refusing to fund basic research and only fund projects that have immediate applications. What he failed to understand is that application research only comes AFTER basic research leads the way.
Hopefully, Obama will ramp up funding for the basics, in the knowledge that it leads to practical applications. You have to crawl before you can walk before you can fly.
Hopefully, Obama will ramp up funding for the basics, in the knowledge that it leads to practical applications. You have to crawl before you can walk before you can fly.
7
Speaking of Science (Fiction)...
Watching NBC's coverage today, one of the anchors (not sure who) said that Dick Cheney in the wheelchair looked just like Peter Sellers' Dr. Strangelove!!!
and he DOES!!!
But they said that on NB-fucking-C!
Watching NBC's coverage today, one of the anchors (not sure who) said that Dick Cheney in the wheelchair looked just like Peter Sellers' Dr. Strangelove!!!
and he DOES!!!
But they said that on NB-fucking-C!
8
As a grammar-scientist, I'd like to point out that "succes" should have an extra "s" on the end.
Carry on.
Carry on.
10
Good god I hope Obama's talented enough to purge the CAM whores and lobbyists from public health (along with the big pharm whores, natch.) Both are equally harmful to our society.
11
"He or she cannot help but set us on a course to success."
Except that science cannot rise above all social and cultural divisions to give us a singular, definitive, and changeless definition of "success." The scientific method cannot make moral claims about how to define the optimal distribution of wealth, how much to clean up the environment, or if or when the state can morally claim to take another life. It can only offer technologies for achieving agreed upon ends. The definition of the goal of public policy emerges through social conflict not through dispassionate experiment. It changes as relations of power change, but it does not progress toward absolute truth.
Except that science cannot rise above all social and cultural divisions to give us a singular, definitive, and changeless definition of "success." The scientific method cannot make moral claims about how to define the optimal distribution of wealth, how much to clean up the environment, or if or when the state can morally claim to take another life. It can only offer technologies for achieving agreed upon ends. The definition of the goal of public policy emerges through social conflict not through dispassionate experiment. It changes as relations of power change, but it does not progress toward absolute truth.
12
Trevor--
My point isn't that science will magically solve all our problems.
Rather, I think it's a very good thing to have leadership that constantly asks, "is this working?"
Bush, and his entire administration, weren't too keen on this and instead focused on finding and considering only evidence that supported their preconceptions.
A good leader, like a good scientist, considers all of the available information, weighted according to the quality, and determines if the initial ideas and conception of the situation match reality. Obama seems like such a leader.
My point isn't that science will magically solve all our problems.
Rather, I think it's a very good thing to have leadership that constantly asks, "is this working?"
Bush, and his entire administration, weren't too keen on this and instead focused on finding and considering only evidence that supported their preconceptions.
A good leader, like a good scientist, considers all of the available information, weighted according to the quality, and determines if the initial ideas and conception of the situation match reality. Obama seems like such a leader.
13
Hey @5, I'm totally biased, but I *love* that he's inquired about fully funding NASA's Earth Science Decadal Study missions.
If that comes at the expense of ARIES... well... I'd say that's making a cost conscious decision and maximizing ROI.
If that comes at the expense of ARIES... well... I'd say that's making a cost conscious decision and maximizing ROI.
14
Um, @5, that is a wise economic choice.
Look, the last guy dug such a deep hole, it's not going to be easy getting out of it in the first place.
Look, the last guy dug such a deep hole, it's not going to be easy getting out of it in the first place.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
SL Letter of the Day: Daddy Loves Who? by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Life Sentence by Dan Savage
-
Crowdsourcing Uncut Police Video from the Dec. 12 Occupy Protest at the Port of Seattle by Eli Sanders
-
Slog Bible Study: Deuteronomy 21:10-14 by Goldy
-
The AP Is Reporting That Whitney Houston Is Dead by Paul Constant
-
The Onion Is on a Roll: "Iran Worried U.S. Might Be Building 8,500th Nuclear Weapon" by Charles Mudede
-
Announcing The Stranger's Tournament of Dunces! Who's the Dumbest Representative in the State House? by Christopher Frizzelle
-
Survey Says: Cyclists Would Rather Give Up Sex Than Their Bikes by Bethany Jean Clement
-
Stranger Tournament of Dunces, Match 3: Rep. Mark Hargrove vs. Rep. Norma Smith by Eli Sanders
-
Rachel Maddow Uncovered the Secret Ron Paul Strategy by Paul Constant
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (14) RSS