Reply #29: Training and inclination [View All]

[saras]

Lawyers and economists are trained to do the things that government does and understand their conceptual systems. Successful businesspeople pick up these same skills, whether they are taught are not. They are radically different than the skill set of scientists, as is the mental universes inhabited by them. In general, the things scientists deal with don't change quality or quantity based on the opinion and organization of pressure groups. No constants, no math, no invariants.

How do you, as a scientist, feel about not only adopting but publicly advocating for a policy you believe is conceptually wrong as well as based on false premises, simply because it is a practical move in a relatively desirable direction given the circumstances and alternatives? If this sound like a pleasant, rewarding challenge, then by all means go into politics and help represent science there.

That is to say, I think it would be a good idea, but would require the remaking of much of our political system, including the entire lobbying apparatus. Technocracy seems like a failed attempt at something like this.