>> A Last Word: Research Is Great, but Dont Forget to Think Critically All of the research in the world wont help educate you on a controversial issue or statement if you dont look at the evidence and try to draw your own conclusions from it. What I can say is that if you want to know whats what, the best thing to do is approach the question honestly and openly, Dr. Plait explains. Read up on opinions for and against. Do the basic arguments make sense? Are the arguments simply ad hominems (attacks against the other side) or is there actual evidence backing up the claims? And what does the other side have to say about those claims? This isnt perfect though, and both McRaney and Dr. Plait warned that there are a few things to watch out for when reading journals and articles that reference journal articles, or when youre talking to science advocates: Watch out for anecdotal evidence. The problem with anecdotal evidence is well documented, and when presented with it, you should make a concerted effort to ignore it, or at least take it into lesser account than rigorous research. Its difficult: our minds are wired to exaggerate the value of anecdotal experience, but if youre thinking and reading critically, its important to discount them. Watch out for scientists who are anything but. Most scientists know their field well, but you still have to think critically about what you hear. Someone claiming to be knowledgeable may not be at all. The problem there again is that there are people who claim to be in this group and arent, Dr. Plait warned. Or worse, ones who actively promote conspiracy theories against scientists—and those are legion. Youve no doubt seen these—people who say scientists are lying to us, or that Big Pharma is paying them, or whatever. I have no easy solution for things like that. Be careful which science advocates you trust. The best science advocates have backgrounds in science themselves, are passionate about science, and are willing to engage openly and non-defensively about a given topic. The worst tend to behave like conversations about research are political or religious ones, and roll out the ad hominem attacks at the first sign of dissention.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 19:38:12 +0000
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