Here's to your health! I liked scientist and blogger
Danielle Lee's take on this ad, others like it, and the history that they represent.
They teach us about how we as a society respond — eagerly
— with the prospect of a new innovation, any, especially if it solves a
problem. Today we know that Radium is dangerous. So why were these sold
to the public before it was thoroughly vetted first? Well, it was
vetted - to the best of science's ability then. And as a result of the
new info & mistake discovered hindsight, we change course. But let's
be clear - SCIENCE isn't the reason for this ad or marketing this
product as the best thing ever. That's ECONOMICS. Often, the beef people
have with innovation is due to the marketing and politics surrounding
how society (we) will use them. The discovery itself isn't usually
problematic. Just things to keep in mind as we continue to debate next
steps in navigating life on this shrinking planet.
That said, I'd add that it's even more important to remember that
science is part and parcel with society, not something forced upon
society or something distinct from it. The two are inextricably
intertwined. So a scientific discovery is also economic opportunity and
societies decide how they'll use the thing in both those contexts and
more. In reality, you can't really look at something like this and blame
it on SCIENCE or ECONOMICS. Instead, we make mistakes like radium
silverware together, as part of a process where society shapes science
and then science shapes society and back again. The important thing is
being willing to pay attention to the results, notice and acknowledge
when we've made a wrong choice, and make sure a correction gets made.
No comments:
Post a Comment