Lawrence Krauss: How science affects political discourse, public policy

Lawrence Krauss has been described by Scientific American as a “public intellectual.” He is a physicist by training and by avocation he is one of the most prominent national advocates for science.

In this week’s Think Tank, we discuss:

• How the public doesn’t really understand what science is (Krauss’ gem: “Science is a Method of Assessing Knowledge, Not an Accumulation of ‘Facts’”).

• Why skepticism is a good thing, and that cynicism is, in many respects, its opposite.

Krauss also answers:

• Why does scientific argument seem to not be faring so well in the public arena?

• How does science compete with entrenched economic interests?

• Why is science so easily dismissed by those who question the motives of scientists?

We also explore how misunderstanding of science is negatively impacting both our political discourse and rational public policy.

This misunderstanding has real-life consequences. Science dictates that we should collect data, test hypotheses, search exhaustively for alternative explanations, and only then offer an explanation.

In most cases, that is the opposite of how we formulate public policy.

If you never have heard Krauss speak, you have missed something. If you have, you know that this will be no dry academic discourse.

The show airs on KTAR News 92.3 FM on Sunday 5 p.m.- 6 p.m. and repeats 9 p.m.-10 p.m.