I agree with Mr Loeb that scientists should share their knowledge with the public through lectures or other modes even when they are not fully certain of the accuracy of their findings. However, this makes me question, does this pose a threat of a chain reaction, if the knowledge someone shares is faulty and other scientists use this as a basis of further research, is there a threat of more inaccurate findings?
Video: https://www.labxchange.org/library/items/lb:HarvardX:c1543a73:lx_simulation:1?fullscreen=true
Hello Marko,
Your point of the potential threat of a chain reaction is crucial in this debate surrounding the communication of science to the public. I think that encouraging open dialogue and peer review can help mitigate the risk of a chian reaction of innacuracies, hopefully allowing for the benefits of sharing knowledge whilst saeguarding against the spread of potentially faulty information.
I somewhat disagree that scientists should share their knowledge with the public if they question the accuracy of their findings. If by questioning the accuracy of their findings they simply mean that the findings are surprising and unforeseen, then I think they should absolutely publish it. But if there are any actual rational reasons why their findings may be inaccurate - issues with experimental design, not fully understanding their own statistical calculations, et cetera - then I think they should refrain from publishing. Academic journals are already littered with erroneous findings, I think the goal should be to decrease these erroneous findings and not contribute to them.