Teaching Ethics in Science: Science v Technology

Janet Stemwedel of Adventures in Ethics and Science has posted a response to my questions about teaching "ethics" in science courses. My original posting is [Ethical Issues in Science] and Janet's response is [Teaching about ethics and other sources of controversy in science class].

When we met at the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference, Janet said she was going to try and kick-start a debate. That's why I took the picture.

There are several different issues, so in order to keep the discussion focused, I'm going to limit myself to only one topic per posting. This one's about the relationship between science and technology and where "ethics" fits in.

Religion Is Losing, According to Ken Ham

 
Okay, so Ken Ham isn't a very reliable source of information. He's about as kooky as you can get when it comes to science and religion. The only things he has going for him is that he's Australian and he's not in jail.

Ken Ham is worried about the evil atheists and the influence they might have on Christian youth. Over at Answers in Genesis he's published a warning against The New Atheists. Can you guess who they might be? I thought so ....

Ham has an interesting take on the issue. He says,

It prompts me to ask: “Why are atheists now getting so much publicity and gaining ground? What’s happened in the culture to allow this?” As we’ve been saying for years, there’s been a change in this culture—at a foundation level. Generations have been indoctrinated by the secular education system and media to build their thinking on human reason, not the Word of God. And at the base of this is the creation/evolution issue.

Evolutionary indoctrination has produced generations (even in the church) who doubt the Bible. Barna Research discovered that of teenagers today who call themselves born-again Christians, only 9% believe there is such a thing as absolute truth. These young people are ripe for “secular evangelists” like Dawkins and Harris.

Who knew? Rationalism is winning over superstition? Is it time to break out the champagne?

But that's not all. There are serious consequences. If the evil atheists win the hearts and minds of our children then dreadful things could happen. But surely this will never happen ... surely rationalism will never win? Ken Ham isn't so sure,

Some people might say to me, “But there’s no way Americans will go for atheism. Most people believe in God, even if they don’t take the Bible seriously as AiG does.” Think back to the 1950s. What if someone back then said to you, “Beware, the homosexual movement is on the march—if we don’t do something, ‘gay’ marriages will be legalized across the country.” Almost all of us at that time would have said that there’s no way Americans would ever accept this. Most people believe that marriage is one man for one woman, so, no, this will never happen in America.But as you know, it has happened—and continues to happen!

Ohmygod. Not only is rationalism making inroads but tolerance as well. Religion is surely doomed. What will Ken Ham do? Stay tuned—I'm sure he has a plan to restore superstition and bigotry.

What Is "Systems Biology?"

It's an interesting question. One of our departments here at the University of Toronto just renamed itself Cell and Systems Biology so you'd think they would know what "systems biology" is, wouldn't you?

Well, they don't. And neither do I. And neither, as it turns out, does Michael White over at Adaptive Complexity. Read his posting: Is Systems Biology Teaching Us Anything New?. Here's a teaser,

What I find most exciting about basic molecular biology today is the prospect of building a quantitative understanding of how a cell works. Many other scientists are excited about this as well, leading to the current popularity of what's being called 'systems biology.' The idea is that maybe we can understand the design principles behind a cellular process - how the behavior of a cell emerges from all of those detailed physical interactions among proteins, nucleic acids and other components of the cell. If that sounds vague to you, well, that's because it is vague. It's a nice sentiment, but I think biologists still have a hard time defining just what it is we want to learn.

More Comet McNaught

 
Phill Plait of Bad Astronomy has another photo of comet McNaught [Incredible Comet McNaught photo] This is one of those (few) times when I wish I lived in the Southern Hemisphere!

Monday's Molecule #10

 
Name this molecule. You must be specific. We need the correct common name.

This is an easy one for everyone who has ever taken biochemistry. This compound is the substrate for one of the most important reactions in living cells—a reaction that powers every living organism. The enzyme that catalyzes this reaction gets my vote for the most important enzyme in the known universe.

We'll discuss what this molecule does after you've been given a chance to identify it.

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Mendel's Garden #10

 
Mendel's Garden is a blog carnival devoted to genetics. The latest version (#10) has been posted on Neurotopia 2.0 [Mendel's Garden].

There are lots of interesting articles. I like Alex Palazzo'z execellent summary of work that shows how A silent mutation affects pain perception?. An article from Sunil on lactose intolerance reveals some new information about the origin of mutations causing lactose tolerance.

For me, the most exciting news is the inclusion of two articles from Sandwalk. This is the first time any of my postings have been included in a blog carnival. Maybe this blogging thingy isn't so bad after all!

Denny Doherty Dies

 
Dennis Doherty (Denny) of The Mamas & The Papas is dead [Doherty from Mamas and Papas dies].

Denny was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on November 29, 1940. He lived in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, a city just west of Toronto.

Other members of the original group included Cass Elliot, who died in 1974, John Phillips, who died in 2001, and Michelle Phillips.

California dreaming on such a winter's day.

In Defense of Sam Harris

 
Jason Rosenhouse comments on the criticism of Sam Harris and on Josh Rosenau's take on the issue [Rosenau on Harris].

Here's a quote from Jason. I wish I had said this!

I find this all very frustrating. People like Harris point to specific, irrational fact claims made by certain religious traditions, establishes the harm that comes to society when large numbers of people believe those claims, and encourages people to think a bit more critically about religious beliefs. He is so militant about the subject that you know what he does? He writes books about it. He speaks publicly about it. And he tries to persuade people with nothing more formidable than rational argumentation.

For his trouble he is criticized for being extreme and intolerant. He is branded a fundamentalist. He is lectured for taking clearly stated and widely-held religious beliefs seriously, when everyone knows that real religion is all nuance and metaphor and paradoxically inexpressible cravings. He is told to shut up lest some ignoramus on the local school board hear what he is saying. He is told that he is the one sowing social discord, unlike all those religious folks who are perfectly happy to live together in peace and not engage each other on theological matters.

Teaching Science

 


I'm at a session on Teaching Science hosted by Adnaan Wasey of The Online NewsHour(PBS). There's a lot of provocative stuff. I'll have to post more later on 'cause I need to listen and pay attention.

Janet D. Stemwedel

 
I'm sitting in a lecture theater at the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. Right now Janet Stemwedel of Adventures in Ethics and Science is talking about how to be a blogging scientist. The title of her session is "Adventures in Science Blogging: Conversations we need to have and how blogging can help us have them."



Good communication skills are essential but there are many traditional ways of communicating. So, why blog? Because blog conversations happen on a short timescale so there's instant feedback and debate. And the record of this conversation is permanent.

Blogs give us the opportunity to respond quickly to recently published papers and newspaper articles.

How Do We Engage the Public on Science?

 
Here's Hunt Willard talking right now at the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. He's telling us what obstacles we face when trying to explain science topics to the general public.

Liveblogging from the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference

 

Bora Zivkovic is welcoming us to the conference and he's about to introduce Hunt Willard, who will talk about presenting genome information to the public. Hunt is an old friend from back when he was a Professor at the University of Toronto.

Liveblogging is a lot of fun but it does raise a troubling question. What is blogging when it isn't "liveblogging"?

Comet McNaught

 
 
Bad Astronomy Blog has been blogging about comet McNaught for the past week. If you haven't seen any of the photos check out this one on National Geographic News [Photo in the News: Superbright Comet Sweeps Across Southern Skies].

This is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Unfortunately you have to be in Australia or Chile to see it.

UPDATE: Here's a picture of comet McNaught in daylight from Astronomy Picture of the Day!

We Won!

 
Remember the BMJ Online poll on the most important medical advance sinc 1840? [Most Important Medical Advance]. Well, the results are out and we won! That is to say, my choice "sanitation" came out on top with 16% of the votes. Close behind were anaesthesia and antibiotics but they probably got extra votes just because they were at the top of the list on the ballot.

The results are [here]. As you might imagine, the whining from the losers has already begun. See Hsien Hsien Lei posts [We Lost] and [Prof. John Burn Roots for DNA]. Sorry guys, DNA is cool and all that but I'd rather have sewers and clean water.

Dinner in Chapel Hill

 

Here's a list of people I had dinner with last night [Dinner Tonight]. We had a great time and lots of photos were taken. I'll post some of them later.

We spent most of the evening talking to Dave Munger and Greta Munger of Cognitive Daily. BTW, they have a geography quiz posted [Casual Fridays: America versus the world!] that's going to find out whether Americans know more about geography than the rest of the world. Place your bets ....