Lord Rutherford's words remain relevant: "Gentlemen, we do not have money. We will have to think."

Sadly, it seems intellect is only valued in NZ if it brings short-term wealth, if it's even valued at all. Lots of…

There is heaps more and the war goes on, we are fooling…

https://www.thinkinc.org.au/events/ben-goldacre/

If that is the future, I dread the future, it will lead to only commercially supported and funded stuff being researched and taken up.

“Phenomenal” students may…

And this particular information made available:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/msd-o-i-a-rqst-re-dr-bratt-presentations-contacts-anon-ltr-w-questions-16-01-14.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/msd-o-i-a-rqst-re-dr-bratt-presentations-contacts-anon-16-01-reply-by-ce-27-02-14.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/msd-o-i-a-rqst-re-dr-bratt-presentations-contacts-anon-16-01-further-reply-12-11-14.pdf

And perhaps also this:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-o-i-a-to-msd-public-interest-re-dr-bratt-anon-xx-03-2014.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-msd-o-i-a-rqst-16-01-14-dr-bratt-presentation-info-ltr-xx-12-14.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-o-i-a-to-msd-dr-bratt-publ-int-prov-dec-compl-hilit-22-05-15.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-3xxxxx-msd-o-i-a-fr-16-01-14-bratt-presentations-anon-ltr-13-06-15.pdf
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-msd-o-i-a-rqst-16-01-14-dr-bratt-presentation-info-hilit-dec-23-06-15.pdf

And you can see how HUGE the problem is to challenge the responsible government department, the Ministry and even our…

when is evidence not really evidence at all? When it's carefully selected and the weight of opinion of the professional or scientific bodies concerned is ignored.

This makes "evidence-based policy" a joke that none of us can afford to laugh…

That is the major weakness of evidence-based policy – somebody still selects which evidence is included. Our current government has successfully 'educated' public servants not to select any that might be unwelcome at the cabinet table.

I'd be in favour of a model somewhat like the NZBORA. For each piece of legislation a scientific council has to provide a report indicating what the evidence is in this area. Doesn't have to be followed, but it…

Yeah, yeah. I know I'm enabling. But such people are so sincere, so absolutely convinced they're doing the right thing.

Forgive them...

Feel free to name names. It has long suited governments to pretend homogeneity without resourcing community engagement to verify that.

Well, second time in a week I've heard that.

The first time was from a (paid by the government) disability advocate, quelling discussion about adverse effects on disabled people of government policy and legislation.

I was a…

yep

Spin, misrepresentation, manipulation, intimidation, obfuscation and censorship, some from government ministers, some internal, from management, but also peer pressure,

That about sums it up.Yet it is dressed up as science. An abuse of the word, and a beacon for what not to do...
It feels…

Re "evaluation", I…

Humans gonna human.

Which is why I'll be advocating for a ruling council composed only of three benevolent AI overlords (triple redundancy, y'see). Remove the messy meatsacks, with their terrible signal-to-noise ratio of egos, feelings,…

Heh. Further to that, I found this to be a rippingly good read.
Spare us from those who know better than we what's best for us.

That could work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Four

I agree, the science is lacking, it is…

Damian has said it was a throwaway line. but onward...
Um how can you tell if someone, anyone has wisdom that will be applicable to running the world as we know it.
Well they wont, easy…

I don't think a ruling body of such wise people would be a good idea.

If your model is some chain of command over science, then you could quite…

To that I fully agree. My own hope is that as time passes, this already is happening. There's setbacks, definitely. But the…

Making up examples? In your world are the poor articulate? Met a few articulate scammers in my time, the best were beggars in the USA. I knew they were scamming me but their act was so well done…

True dat. Having just finished Silencing Science (thanks for the link Sacha) I can't see Damian's "half joking" proposal for "being ruled by a benevolent wise council of elders" as anything other…

But not all those who have power. Filipino housemate is a big fan of Duterte because after Marcos things went downhill there. Apparently a murderous vigilante might be less corrupt than the current incumbent, and he thinks it's worth the tradeoff.

A possibly…

Don't forget that Greenpeace have also made errors of judgement around information in the past. Brent Spar anyone?

Not so sure about the council of elders idea myself either. Decades of working with and around a…

An articulate person would likely recieve a greater benefit than a stoic or reclusive person. That's injustice in my book.

I have a problem with that?

That's basically a policy that says there is no policy. Which works great if you have an omnipotent, benevolent…

Using that kind of research to inform social policy is a mistake, a very bad mistake.
Its mainly statistics and surveys not bad in themselves just that…

Trying to influence GPs and other health professionals seems quite ok, by using selected scientific reports, written by researchers doing mostly…

Try not to take me too literally on that one Ben ;) I just mean that it'd be great if many of our important national decisions were a bit more evidence-based rather than contrary to evidence, or based on…

A friend of mine, with a physics PhD, is fond of noting that he managed to retain enough interest in science to get his advanced Uni qualifications, despite the preceding seven years of school science. Part of the problem…

While I appreciate the point you're trying to make, it's more than a little troubling to directly compare a model where you're literally asked to take everything on faith, with a model where your results ultimately only survive if…

I think it was called the Enlightenment.

But more seriously, there are a bunch of sources of unease that have come and gone over time- the Cold War nuclear anxieties, seeing the generalisability of science as linked to…

Nicely put. Some scientists have a strong social conscience, some don't. While some kind of empowered science commissioner might be marginally useful in dealing with this kind of dodginess, Greenpeace are so far proving more effective than any hypothetical priesthood…

Or both? It is a hard question. Especially the question about the level to which scientists should gain power. I have…

Well done Damian. It is anxiety forming our ability to convince certain…

Consider the typical (adult) audience for such pamphlets.
One data point: my grandfather, typically for his generation, left school at 13 to get a job (he then spent most of his career working for a bank). He keenly felt his lack of formal education, and…

If there was silence for a little while it is because I didn't enable comments – that has now been changed.

I'm not…

That was via The Nation this morning and a recommended watch (13m).

Check the setting where Minister Nick Smith chose to conduct his…

That's what Hendy is saying, yes.

We need a Commissioner…