Comments for Sound Science Blog

Comment on Clear as mud by Communicating Science « Ecotone Projects

Communicating Science « Ecotone Projects — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:16:56 +0000

[...] Maddox over at Sound Science LLC wrote a fine blog post recently about the dangers of oversimplifying science – and science policy – for the sake of [...]

Comment on Clear as mud by Lindsay Campbell

Lindsay Campbell — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:19:30 +0000

Well, put, David. These were my sentiments exactly in reaction to the speaker. Complexity is not a bad thing. The question is: how can we be clear even in the midst of complexity (and depth)? The other issue is: know your audience. Sometimes slogans are important to catch an eye or pique interest, but other times (i.e. often in a scientific or policymaking context) nuance, detail, and even fuzziness are part of our best understanding of an issue.

Comment on Lorca’s poetry about nature and place by Carlos Gallastegui

Carlos Gallastegui — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:25:39 +0000

In this period it became more common to refer to natural philosophy as “natural science”. Over the course of the 19th century, the word “science” became increasingly associated with the disciplined study

Comment on It is difficult to take in all the glory of the Dandilion by Cindy Salo

Cindy Salo — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:52:13 +0000

David,

Your combination of art, writing, and science captures the complexity…and the fun…of science.

Cindy

Comment on It is difficult to take in all the glory of the Dandilion by Mary Hall Surface

Mary Hall Surface — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:32:44 +0000

This kind of thinking — that which sees patterns and perspectives, not merely data and information — is one of the essential-to-the-21st -century’s skills articulated in Daniel Pink’s book, A WHOLE NEW MIND. Exciting to see that skill so creatively at work in this post and in the work of Sound Science.

Comment on Ecologists Should Try to Understand “Climate Deniers” by Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:51:28 +0000

George,

Thanks for your thoughtful comment. It’s hard to imagine that very many people could change the way they respond to ambiguity or make decisions. But I think it’s up to the ones who can see that there is more than one way to look at things (that would be those folks who embrace new experiences, who can imagine what would happen if…, etc., some of whom turn out to be ecologists) to try to meet others in the middle. We need to remember that not everyone can see what we see and to try to reassure them with clear, vivid language and concrete detail.

Here in Idaho we have examples of groups of people with very different viewpoints agreeing because they were afraid of the consequences of not reaching an agreement.

1. When it looked as though slickspot peppergrass might be listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2003, the state of Idaho went to work on a Candidate Conservation Agreement. Fear drove all sides to hammer out the CCA in just six months. However, despite the promising start with the CCA, the species was listed as threatened in October, 2009.

2. The Owyhee Initiative was much more complex and took much longer (nearly a decade). Ranchers, conservationists, the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe, and Owyhee County agreed to protect half a million acres of wilderness and over 300 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers, to better regulate off-road vehicles, to recognize ranching as a traditional way of life in the area, and to work to increase understanding of conservation in the Owyhee Uplands. More at: http:// http://www.owyheeinitiative.org

Comment on Ecologists Should Try to Understand “Climate Deniers” by Tweets that mention Sound Science » Ecologists Should Try to Understand “Climate Deniers” -- Topsy.com

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:06:41 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matt Herbert, John Cook. John Cook said: RT @Etheostomatt: Ecologists should try to understand "Climate Deniers": http://bit.ly/9ABHIf [...]

Comment on The only constant is change. So why don’t we know more about what’s going on? by George Maddox

George Maddox — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:26:30 +0000

This statement correctly argues that the design and presentation of useful information are impotant objectives of consultations between those who need informatiions for selecting, planning, imlplementing and evaluating projects.
What should follow from this statement are illustation of relationshiops between providers and users of information about how to create an efdfective relationshiop. Does the planning, implemention and evaluation of the Milllion Trees Program in NYC provide an illustration how research and research consultation was, or might have been, used in the planning, implementation and assessment of this program?

Comment on Ecologists Should Try to Understand “Climate Deniers” by George Maddox

George Maddox — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:06:35 +0000

Reducing the gap between confronting environmental issues and effective solutions is an impotant social objective. In a democracy how one bridges the gap between citizens of the “caring, fair” crowd and those who emphsize respect for authority, and group loyalty, personal purity types is an obvious obstacle.
Some illustrations of successful bridging of the gaps between individual persons of such different persuasions, assuming that they exist so neatly differentiated, would be the heart of the matter. Are there convincing illustrations?
It may be enough to identify convincing illustrations of attempts to bridge the gap and effective techniques for doing so.