One of the most striking topics of the
World Economic Forum
was the problem of growing distrust in science and innovation. This problem popped up in the study about trust - Edelman Trust Barometer 2024.?
Richard Edelman
highlighted some interesting concerns from the research, such as:
- Innovation is being poorly managed globally.?There is a ranking of trust from worst to best, with GMOs being the least trusted, followed by AI, mRNA, and Green Energy as the best managed.
- Business become much more trusted than the government.
- Science has lost its independence, with scientists becoming more politicized and government and funding organizations having too much influence on science.
- An average person is considered as trusted as a scientist?to tell the truth about innovations. Those who are skeptical about the pace of innovation are even more likely to trust an average person than a scientist.
- Scientists are expected to lead on the implementation of innovation, but people also expect the government to play a better role as a regulator. However, they are under-informed and under-qualified.
- The number one source for information is search, followed by social media. The "voice of the people" is more trusted than mainstream media.
The highlights of the discussion of these concerns:
- Science is not equal to innovation.?Science is an asset we have and this assent is not just about innovation. It helps us differentiate between belief and knowledge. Trust in science and scientific literacy are crucial in society. People always back off when there is conflicting advice or a high level of uncertainty
- Scientists are part of the wider communities. We do not need to talk about scientists as if they were somehow separate from society, government and citizens.
- Scientists need to be trained in effective communication.?Before the framework of open science, the main task of scientists was to understand rather than to communicate. Scientists are trained in various areas, but communication is not always emphasized and appreciated. They are fixed on the outcome and may forget to explain the journey that led to their findings and data. This journey is equally beautiful and interesting, but it’s not a smooth journey.?
- Scientists can make errors, but science progresses through self-correction.?We more often talk about truth in science as opposed to focusing on facts, because facts remain immutable. As we accumulate more and more facts, we gain a broader understanding of a wider picture. However, our conclusions may change. Therefore, we must be more transparent about the methods we use in our work, our research, and clinical trials, and what we do and don't do.
- Patients and society have easy access to a vast amount of real-time information?that keeps changing constantly.?Before, when information wasn't as accessible, doctors would simply tell their patients what they needed to do and they would trust their recommendations. However, now scientists and practitioners have to explain the entire research process in a way that people will understand and trust them to come on this journey of science.
- Emphasizing critical thinking skills rather than just memorizing facts.?With the increasing use of AI tools, it is crucial to teach children how to distinguish between accurate and false information and encourage them to ask relevant questions. Critical thinking enables the ability to question scientists and information available on the internet.?
- Question the results generated by AI.?While we have AI that can summarize scientific papers and provide results, we also have many papers with unreplicable and incorrect results. With an increase in the number of money-making journals and the requirement for a certain number of publications for a successful scientific career, a lot of questionable, useless and, sometimes, biased data is being published.
#WEF2024 #WEF #Davos #Science #Innovation #TrustBarometer
Electronic, mechanical, software designer. I also speak molecular biology and neuroscience. Sci-fi author
1 年ooooooo, haven't seen this one yet, watching now! What a great WEF this year, so many world problems to engage with in 2024!