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@luckytran@med-mastodon.comAs a science advocate, something I hear a lot is that people think government would be better if there were more scientists and physicians elected to Congress. Senator Bill Cassidy's cowardice in voting for RFK Jr, show us that expertise is useless if you have no morals.
@luckytran He's not even the only (former) doctor in the Senate!
@luckytran first lesson I learned as a grad student: scientist are humans (with all the possible flaws that can result)
we don’t need scientists in congress - there’s no specific need for a congressperson highly-specialized in, say, lemur biology or radiochemistry. 99.9% of the time that expertise will be unused.
what congress does need is people with basic scientific literacy and the ability to tell the difference between facts and bullshit.
@letsbekind2 @luckytran
Any science training provides that, and once learned, it can be applied to any subject, including policy and lawmaking. Many areas of legislation could benefit from scientific thinking, such as gun control, healthcare, and education, where a lot of research has been done to show the most effective approaches.
as we've seen with cassidy (and many others), having a science background does not necessarily get you scientific literacy, nor the motivation to put it into practice.
as you point out, the science has already been done about better policies - we know what needs doing, our politicians just don't want to do it.
@luckytran morals or courage?
@luckytran more philisiohers needed, and defunded, of course.
@luckytran Mengele was a doctor…….
@luckytran If one's aim is to build better governments, then they're taking the issue from the wrong side...
This stupidity begins at the local and state level. And then the numbnuts get elected to the US Congress.
This article is from 2020:
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2020-08-10/idaho-lawmaker-listening-to-experts-is-an-elitist-approach-to-coronavirus-restrictions#stream/0
@luckytran it shows us degrees do not equal expertise.
@luckytran
TBH, I'm disappointed by a lot of doctors... unless they're physician-scientists, they usually don't seem to have very good critical thinking skills. Maybe more recent graduates are better trained in critical thinking and evidence-based medicine? #RFKJr #Antivax
How many people become doctors because of the social cachet and respectability that it brings? Not everyone, definitely, but not nobody either.
I'm not a doctor. My experience is that people who are motivated by hierarchy often have blocks in their critical thinking, but I don't know how widespread this is in medicine.
@passenger @luckytran
Good point. That fits with what I observed in university decades ago, that a lot of people who were trying to get into med school were ALSO trying to get into law school and MBA programs. What do they have in common besides money and cachet? Whereas the ones I knew who really only wanted to become doctors later went into public health or family practice.
@luckytran
The astronaut is voting red too
@luckytran Follow the money...
@luckytran Bill Frist put that lie to bed long ago.
@luckytran
They are cowards, and they are frightened.
@luckytran how do you feel about Rand Paul (ophthalmologist)
@luckytran People confuse science and scientist. Science is a method to hypothesize, experiment, and confirm or negate ideas. Scientists are hoomans and prone to assholery like the rest of the population; hence, the system of peer review.