RE: Scientific Illiteracy is the Worst Case-3 Types Knowledge

[David Hahn-Baker <dhahnbaker@aol.com>]

One thing I'm fond of saying is that there are 3 types of knowledge when it comes to public participation.  There's theoretical or "book" knowledge about issues.  In the past, communities have often lacked the initials after their names or degrees to claim expertise this area.  Industries or government have often used "the best science that money can buy" can claim a monopoly in this area.  Fortunately, one of the effects of the technology revolution is that scientific tools are becoming more available to the public and the public can increasingly play in the game of "good" science.

A second type of knowledge is experiential knowledge of a particular problem.  Though it is often dismissed as anecdotal, there is nothing quite like the knowledge which comes from experiencing an environmental issue or problem first hand.  In addition, it is often those who live at a particular site who know that conditions (rainfall, etc.) may vary so that readings or observations at one point in the year may not apply to conditions all year.  Though the theoretician may dismiss anecdotal knowledge it sometimes is those saying that something which exists in reality just doesn't exist in theory.

Perhaps the only thing more obtuse than saying pollution needs to be reduced  from parts per billion to parts per million is to focus merely on the mispoken words and not to react to the obvious meaning of those words that the speaker wants pollutants reduced.  It is often the community which holds a near monopoly on this experiential knowledge.

The other type of knowledge in this triumvirate is common sense.  In theory no one holds a monopoly on this knowledge though in practice it seems to often be lacking in debates on these issues.

In my mind, common sense dictates coming up with solutions and reviewing data with a goal in mind of finding mutually agreeable solutions.  Unfortunately in our competitive world there seems to be far too much interest in simply using science to allow moneyed forces to do what they originally planned with as little delay as possible.  Generally this is what risk management seems to be and public participation gets used as a tool in making this so.