Scientists can bring information, insights, and analytical skills to
bear on matters of public concern. Acting in their areas of expertise,
scientists can help people understand the likely causes of events and estimate
their possible effects. Outside their areas of expertise, however, scientists
should enjoy no special credibility. And where their own personal, institutional,
or community interests are at stake, scientists as a group can be expected
to be no less biased than other groups are about their perceived interests.
| NSES Content Standard F
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges Grades 9-12, page 199 Science and technology are essential social enterprises, but alone they can only indicate what can happen, not what should happen. The latter involves human decisions about the use of knowledge. |