East Palestine, Ohio and Scientific Uncertainty

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Critical Science

Lyle Burgoon

27 episodes

9 months ago

Critical Science is focused on a few things I (Dr. Lyle Burgoon) love -- critical thinking (which I don't do enough of at home, ask my family), science, and applied ethics. And ya know what -- even scientists, who are supposed to be trained to be critical thinkers, often mess it up (I'm certainly not perfect). In each episode I try to combine these two passions of mine. Sometimes, we'll explore a topic in the news in a slightly more critical way. Other times we might explore how a lack of critical thought has led to some minor, and sometimes major, problems. But ultimately, I want us to explore critical thinking more deeply. How do we do this critical thinking thing, anyway? What do we need to watch out for? And how does critical thinking align with the scientific method as it's actually practiced by real scientists? And we'll tackle tough subjects like applied ethics challenges and scientific integrity questions. My hope is that through this journey we'll learn and grow into better critical thinkers -- together.

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East Palestine, Ohio and Scientific Uncertainty

Critical Science

32 minutes 26 seconds

2 years ago

East Palestine, Ohio and Scientific Uncertainty

What does scientific uncertainty, and communicating about uncertainty, have to do with the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio? A lot.

In today's episode, I talk about what uncertainty in science is, and why it is important to communicate our uncertainty about science to the public. For me, I cringe at absolutes and certainty. When I hear someone express certainty in a conclusion I want to know how they got that answer. And when public figures who aren't scientists tell me something with certainty, I want to poke at that and understand their rationale. And you should, too. Today's episode is all about uncertainty, and poking around for more information.

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