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RE: Biases in science, a lesson from the Taung child

in #science7 years ago

That was an interesting read. I knew what the current state of affair was but was unaware of the history behind it. This proves that no matter how rigorous the scientific method is, in the end it is always carried out by a human that is innately prone to biases. Scientific discoveries should therefore always be approached with caution. I'm not talking about rejecting them, just taking them with a pinch of salt and taking the broader context into consideration. I believe example of such biases could be found in the majority of scientific fields. And it's got even worse since science has become so intimately intertwined with and dependent on the capital.

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^hear, hear for this! It amazes me that mass media, particularly what used to be called "the gutter press", use scientific studies (which are often complex things and require additional testing which rarely occurs) to aid their own biases. Remember the hullabaloo about how wine was good for pregnancy? The study didn't actually say that. It just said there was insufficient evidence to suggest that alcohol consumption within a set level increased the risk of pre-eclampsia. Having a basic understanding of science is important but has to be tempered with an expectation of human, media and governmental biases.