Hesslow beklagar förvillarpris - och slaktar Schneider-citat

Germund Hesslow har idag en Newsmill-artikel där han kritiserar Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning (VoF) för att de har givit Stockholmsinitiativet VoFs årliga förvillarpris. Där tar Hesslow bl a upp ett citat av den nyligen bortgångne klimatforskaren Stephen Schneider:

Och vem har gjort sig mer förtjänt av ett förvillarpris än Stephen Schneider, en annan av AGW-rörelsens galjonsfigurer: "Vi vill förbättra världen … För att göra det måste vi fånga allmänhetens uppmärksamhet … få mycket uppmärksamhet i media. Så vi måste måla upp skrämmande scenarier, göra förenklade, dramatiska påståenden och förtiga våra eventuella tvivel … Var och en av oss måste bestämma den rätta balansen mellan att vara effektiv och att vara hederlig."

En viktig regel för varje skeptiker är att när man ser ellipser (...) i ett citat så bör man kolla upp ursprungscitatet. Så låt oss göra det:

On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but — which means that we must include all the doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we'd like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change. To do that we need to get some broadbased support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This 'double ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both.

Citatet är från en diskussion i Discover Magazine, som handlade om problemet med vetenskaplig kommunikation i dagens (1989) soundbite-media. Schneider hoppades att det skulle gå att vara både effektiv och uppriktig. Hesslow delar tydligen inte den uppfattningen.

Uppdatering 2011-01-12: För dem som inte vill klicka på den sista länken så kan jag avslöja att Schneider förklarar sin ståndpunkt så här:

Vested interests have repeatedly claimed I advocate exaggerating threats. Their “evidence” comes from partially quoting my Discover interview, almost always - like Simon - omitting the last line and the phrase “double ethical bind.” They also omit my solutions to the double ethical bind: (1) use metaphors that succinctly convey both urgency and uncertainty (pg. xi of Ref. 3) and (2) produce an inventory of written products from editorials to articles to books, so that those who want to know more about an author’s views on both the caveats and the risks have a hierarchy of detailed written sources to which they can turn. What I was telling the Discover interviewer, of course, was my disdain for a soundbite-communications process that imposes the double ethical bind on all who venture into the popular media. To twist my openly stated and serious objections to the soundbite process into some kind of advocacy of exaggeration is a clear distortion. Moreover, not only do I disapprove of the “ends justify the means” philosophy of which I am accused, but, in fact have actively campaigned against it in myriad speeches and writings. Instead, I repeatedly advocate that scientists explicitly warn their audiences that “what to do” is a value choice as opposed to “what can happen” and “what are the odds,” which are scientific issues (e.g. p. 213 of Ref. 3). I also urge that scientists, when they offer probabilities, work hard to distinguish which are objective and which are subjective, as well as what is the scientific basis for any probability offered. For such reasons I was honored to receive, in 1991, the AAAS/Westinghouse Award for the Public Understanding of Science.

Det här skrevs för 15 år sedan, och likväl fortsätter klimatförvirrarna att missbruka citatet.