14 DAY TRIAL // Starting from the hypothesis that humankind wants to live better and longer, a Stanford biologist says that scientists need to become more involved in the life of the community. They need to get down from their ivory tower, and become advocates of the results their studies are developing.
The meaning of most advanced investigations is lost on the general public, which only perceives it through the lens of journalists and propaganda artists. According to Paul Ehrlich, scientists are the most capable individuals in the world to explain their own findings.
If they want to change society for the better, and start working on modifying human behavior so that that becomes possible, researchers need to become more involved into what happens with their research after they publish it.
The expert spoke on Thursday, August 11, at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, which was held in Austin, Texas. He is the Bing Professor of Population Studies at the university. “You often hear people say scientists should not be advocates. I think that is bull,” he said.
At this point, many scientists consider that the publication of their results in a prestigious journal marks the end of their obligations towards society. But Ehrlich thinks that their job should continue to a point where they also make people aware of the implications their studies have.
This is especially true nowadays, as the planet as on the brink of a global environmental collapse. Leaving the process of finding solutions into the hands of corporations and the governments they control alone will not do anyone any good.
These are the exact same social actors that are trying to persuade everyone that global warming is a Socialist conspiracy, that climate change does not exist, that high-tech industries do not pollute the planet, that tobacco is actually not linked to cancer and that cosmetics contain no toxic chemicals.
“With society moving toward a collapse, the idea that scientists, especially ecologists, should just do their work, present their data and not do any interpretation leads to the kind of imbecility we have in Washington today, where you have an entire Congress that is utterly clueless about how the natural world works,” Ehrlich emphasizes.
“The idea that ecologists in particular shouldn't be advocates, that they shouldn't be telling the public that what ecologists study is basically disappearing, is just nuts,” the expert adds, saying that ecology is shaping up to be the most important science today, in light of current climate developments.
“We are trying to recruit the social sciences and the humanities into an attempt to make academia relevant in the world and help change the course of society,” Ehrlich told his audience.