Opinion:
Vidyaguy
As a scientist with many years in many disciplines, my experience is that "most scientists" are subject to the same limitations that hamper the general public. Further, their experience and expertise tends to be too narrow; their opinions too strong relative to their actual integrated knowledge. Finally, just as it has been for decades, funding and opportunities to publish determine how much and in what fields "most scientists" work. That these key motivators are correlated with the agenda of governments should be obvious to even a casual observer; even funding within corporations is highly reflective of government priorities. The politicization of science has reached a point where even scientists do not examine their own motives very closely (or, perhaps, they just don't want to examine that very closely), and emotion begets activism when career opportunities are uncertain.
The vast majority of scientists -- 87 percent -- think they should play an active role in debates on public policy, according to a poll of US scientists released Sunday.
Forty-three percent of those queried by the Pew Research poll also felt it was important to engage with the media.
The survey was given to 3,748 US-based scientists who are members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which publishes the journal Science and is holding its annual meeting in San Jose, California.
"Science topics are increasingly becoming part of the public debate and scientists clearly feel they should be in the arena," said Lee Rainie, Pew Research Center director of internet, science and technology research.
