[escepticos] Ignorancia selectiva en ciencia

[Pedro J. Hdez]

Creo que a alguno de la corrala va a gustar la tesis de este artículo. Cito
lo más relevante:

One of the main factors influencing selective ignorance is the choice of
the questions that we try to answer. It seems that the appropriate question
in agricultural research should be how to reduce hunger, alleviate rural
poverty and promote sustainable development through locally adapted
solutions. However, the current situation is that agricultural research
tends to study how to maximize the production of individual agricultural
products, severely damaging some forms of social organization while
increasing biotech companies’ profits. Moreover, this kind of land use
entails the utilization of huge amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and
heavy irrigation whose negative side-effects are relatively unknown, as
part of this selective ignorance.

The IAASTD report also mentions that an important form of selective
ignorance occurs when society takes for granted that certain problems have
to be explored primarily in a scientific mode instead of in a social or a
political mode. The report accounts for some non-technical solutions to
agricultural problems, such as the redistribution of land, the creation of
safety nets for local farmers or the promotion of more transparent markets.

The choice of specific metrics and standards can also promote selective
ignorance. The use of certain indices instead of others can hide relevant
pieces of information. The best known is the use of gross domestic product
(GDP) to measure the economic performance of a country. This index is
highly misleading, as it doesn’t account for inequities within a
population. Nevertheless, the choice of a certain metric can be
advantageous if the purpose is to prevent the acquisition of socially
significant information or alter the public perception of a phenomenon.
http://mappingignorance.org/2013/07/25/selective-ignorance-in-science/

-- 
Pedro J. Hernández
http://gplus.to/pedroj