Eye on Science, Science Blog, Michael D. Lemonick, TIME

December 14, 2007 9:57

Why I Hate Scientist-Bloggers

Posted by Michael Lemonick | Comments (46) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

OK, I don't really hate them. But it used to be that science journalists stood between scientists and the public. The scientists did research, then we asked questions and translated their dry jargon and complicated ideas into scintillating prose. Sure, there were a few scientists, like Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who wrote engagingly about the mysteries of the natural world, but they were relatively few.

Now look what's happened. Go to the Science Blogs website and you'll find dozens of actual scientists, commenting in real time on every aspect of science you can imagine. It wouldn't be so bad if they were inarticulate—but most of them aren't! They're eloquent, funny, sarcastic and really smart (the last kind of goes without saying). No sooner does a paper appear in a major (or even a minor journal) than they jump in with knowledgeable reaction.

The truth is that science journalists have always relied on actual scientists to help us understand the implications of some new discovery. Some of us are pretty savvy about some areas of science, but still, we need to get expert perspective. Scientist-bloggers help us do that, only more efficiently. And because there are so many of them, with many more scientists commenting on their posts, the wisdom of crowds distills the essence of the arguments very quickly.

Just to prove I don't really hate them, here are some—but only some! anyone I've left out, don't take it personally!—of my favorite blogs by scientists: Pharyngula, Aetiology, Cosmic Variance, The Intersection (a joint effort with at least one actual scientist blogging), Respectful Insolence.

There are plenty more—go explore. As long, that is, as you return here afterward.

Sphere Related Blogs & Articles

Reader Comments (46)

Rhonda Stone:

Hmmm. As a parent of two children with a health condition that has been mocked relentlessly by the scientific community, I'd like to say something about the -- to put it bluntly -- arrogance and insensitivity of scientists and the disrespect they show to "scientific journalists" who have the guts to report on issues not yet accepted by science.

A considerable measure of science is supposed to be about discovery. There can be no discovery if old ideas aren't discussed open-mindedly.

Beginning at ages 7 and 8, my children suffered in school because the medical community has yet to have the common sense to merge human biology with the laws of physics. Think of how precious your children are to you. Mine began to complain that they couldn't see in school and I watched helplessly as they fell further and further behind their peers. Every year they said to me, "Mommy I can't see in my classroom." And every year vision professionals said "There's nothing wrong with them. They're making it up." By age 9, my daughter started coming home nearly every day from school exhausted, sick to her stomach, and with bright red eyes that no one could explain.

Well, the answer was right in front of our literal faces--my children couldn't tolerate certain types of fluorescent lighting. Tinted lenses in bright colors prescribed for their specific needs helped my kids considerably. The medical community mocked and laughed at us.

This week, dozens of scientists from four continents met in Hong Kong for the first International Symposium on Visually-Induced Motion Sickness, Fatigue, and Epileptic Seizures. Even though the event was recommended by the international CIE and ISO, it has attracted little to no media interest. At that symposium, attendees heard from respected scientists that tinted lenses prescribed specifically to the needs of patients successfully address symptoms.

I am grateful to every scientific journalist who has the guts to write about controversial areas of science. The American scientific machine is extremely conservative -- moreso than other nations; too conservative for the well-being of children. Illnesses caused by environmental issues are real and damaging. It isn't the fault of children that the medical model for research is based wholly upon a pharmaceutical approach with little to nothing to do with environmental controls and concerns. Did I mention the reason my children passed their visions tests is that vision professionals almost always turn the lights off to do testing?

Most sincerely,
Rhonda Stone
Parent advocate, light-based health and learning issues
Former journalist
Author, The Light Barrier, St. Martin's Press, 2002

Posted by Rhonda Stone | December 14, 2007 11:03 AM

Paul Johnson:

Journalists have also gotten in the way of science before. its a two way street. some scientists are bad, some journalists are bad. hopefully enough of both are actually good. i think they are.

Did they really laugh at and mock you? or did they just not believe you?

--Good post, thanks.
M.L.

Posted by Paul Johnson | December 14, 2007 2:13 PM

Trevor Padgett:

Scientists report on what they know, that being in itself a dynamic entity. Your attack on scientists for not pre-supposing that this condition exists is incongruous with reality. Once evidence arises, it is investigated, and then it is understood. I appreciate your concern, but to lump all scientists into the category of ignoring new evidence is vitally flawed. Suppose it came to be that the reason I get severe headaches in the mid-afternoon was because the ceiling fans created a breeze, interrupting my body in any given manner - accumulating throughout the day. Would I rant about these hostile scientists not realizing that this is the case? No, I would welcome their interest and knowledge.
Who, by the way, was it that discovered the link between lights and vision? Was it you? Was it a doctor? Was it a ....gasp...scientist?

Science is a tough game - there is so much depth to be aware of. So much of "topical science" is wrong, mythical, stories...it takes a certain level of skepticism to actually find the truth.

Posted by Trevor Padgett | December 14, 2007 2:16 PM

factician:

I'm with Paul Johnson. People who haven't spent much time with scientists may find disbelief to be rude.

I spend a good chunk of my day telling other people that I think they're full of it. When they prove me wrong, I take it back and we move on. Sometimes I'm wrong. Sometimes they are. Disbelief and skepticism is what makes science work.

Don't take it personally. When a scientist has an open mind, it doesn't mean we'll buy into any idea unconditionally. It means we're open to being proven wrong. But you have to provide concrete evidence, which is something most folks aren't trained to provide.

My thoughts, worth the price paid.

Posted by factician | December 14, 2007 2:18 PM

Kagehi:

Rhonda, lets be ***very*** clear about something. Doctors are rarely if ever scientists. They are people that got into the field of medicine to help people, went through a lot of classes about how to diagnose **known** conditions, then never learned a damn thing past that. Some of them even give patients medicines they shouldn't, not based on solid science, or clinical trials, but solely on the basis of, "Hmm, well, this med sometimes causes this side effect, and in people with such an such a problem, that side effect is beneficial.", no attempt is made to determine if it *is* effective, or if it causes other worse side effects, as a result of the same condition. And about half the time, it doesn't even work, but the doctors and patients *think* it works, because one thinks the doctor must be right, while the other thinks he knows everything.

The fact is, scientists rely too much on doctors, who, in 80% of the cases, wouldn't recognize science if it sat on them, to give them some idea as to *what* to research, and then about 20% of the doctors ignore the science anyway, because they are creationists, or some other stripe of denialist, who won't accept the evidence anyway.

Science has known for a long time that certain types of lighting, certain specific types of fast flashing, etc. *do* cause problems. Some games even include warning labels now about some of those effects. Its been studied, tested and found to be a real issue. But, doctors are, as a rule, almost always anywhere from 10-100 years behind the curve on many things, unless it involves handing you a fracking pill made by some company whose *job* is to convince people that its does something. Some of us would like to see that fixed by making sure doctors all have some education in scientific thinking, but given that some parts of our society don't want that even for our kids (since it would seriously derail their attempts to teach total idiocy), its likely that doctors will continue to make *real* researchers, scientists and experts look stupid, by failing to grasp the scientific method, and instead relying on data that they picked up 20-30 years earlier, while still in school (most don't even read "new" articles on their own fields, never mind anyone else's).

Now, I am sure there will be doctors whining to me about this description, but ***every*** case like yours I have ever seen has been a result of doctors ignoring current, or even vaguely recent, data and studies on something, in favor of what they did or didn't learn years earlier while still in college, and which they *think* is somehow the pinnacle of all knowledge in their own field. That is why people travel thousands of miles to go to some doctor at a research hospital, or an expert in a specific condition, who ***does*** read new papers and knows what he/she is bloody talking about.

Posted by Kagehi | December 14, 2007 2:29 PM

Barton Paul Levenson:

I'd like to put in a plug for another blog run by scientists: RealClimate:

http://www.realclimate.org

-BPL

--Excellent. I'll be adding this, Bad Astronomy and a few others to the blogroll.
M.L.

Posted by Barton Paul Levenson | December 14, 2007 2:47 PM

Chad:

I was going to write a nice, lengthy response to Rhonda Stone, but I feel as though I don't need to considering that some of her comments and the overall tone of her response is the exact reason we need scientists, and not people like her, talking about science.

I will take just one of her comments: "...my children suffered in school because the medical community has yet to have the common sense to merge human biology with the laws of physics."

Seriously? Such comments from a former journalist show such a profound ignorance of not only past research where physics and biology have been melded together into major scientific advancements but also to the very way science is conducted that I cannot imagine her conveying anything of substance about science to the general public. It is careless writing such as this that gives laypeople false or exaggerated ideas of what science is and in turn does a disservice to the public at large. I could go on and on about the rest of her post, but the sickness caused by reading her post leaves me unable.

Posted by Chad | December 14, 2007 2:53 PM

Tony Gill:

If scientists blogging on science can do it as well if not better than journalists, with the potential to reach a wider audience on the internet, then what does Mr. Lemonick have to say to the next generation of would-be science journalists?

--I'd say: stay on your toes.
M.L.

Posted by Tony Gill | December 14, 2007 2:59 PM

Phil Plait:

Egads! You mention Pharyngula, but not the far better in every conceivable way Bad Astronomy?

Sigh.

--I just KNEW I was going to offend somebody. And Phil is even a Facebook friend....
M.L.

Posted by Phil Plait | December 14, 2007 3:10 PM

Tony Jeremiah:

Rhonda,

The following site may be of interest to you:

http://lighting.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/lightHealth/index.asp

Posted by Tony Jeremiah | December 14, 2007 3:13 PM

PZ Myers:

Well, you know, Phil has these deep-seated anxieties and insecurities -- his feelings of inferiority feed his need to be constantly reassured that he's adequate.

It's OK, Phil. You are inferior. Once you accept that, everything will be copacetic.

Besides, it's easy to conceive of how Pharyngula is better. You don't have enough squid on your site.

Posted by PZ Myers | December 14, 2007 3:36 PM

J Rudge:

Phil is still upset about having to cuddle with an octopus after losing to Pharyngula. Don't pay any attention to him.

(Both are excellent blogs, don't miss either of 'em!)

Posted by J Rudge | December 14, 2007 3:37 PM

TM:

Ms Stone

You used the scientific method to deduce what was apparently hurting your kids.

That makes you a scientist.

So don't be so hard on yourself. That makes you a part of the problem....and a part of the solutions!

Posted by TM | December 14, 2007 3:39 PM

PZ Myers:

Wait...Phil is a facebook friend, but I'm not?

I think I feel snubbed now.

--Hey, he friended me!
M.L.

Posted by PZ Myers | December 14, 2007 3:41 PM

Meg Kribble:

Sure, there were a few scientists, like Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who wrote engagingly about the mysteries of the natural world, but they were relatively few.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is still writing and educating the public, and I hope he will be for many years to come. While I certainly agree that he is worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Sagan and Gould, the particular manner in which it has been done here makes it sound like he is also deceased!

--Since I wrote him up as one of the Time 100 most influential people a few months ago, I'd have to agree.
M.L.

Posted by Meg Kribble | December 14, 2007 4:06 PM

Bad:

"This week, dozens of scientists from four continents met in Hong Kong for the first International Symposium on Visually-Induced Motion Sickness, Fatigue, and Epileptic Seizures."

Note that the topics covered here are all longstanding parts of medicine, not grand new avenues.

"Even though the event was recommended by the international CIE and ISO, it has attracted little to no media interest."

The vast vast majority of such symposiums attract zero media coverage, so why are you presenting this as something scandalous?

"At that symposium, attendees heard from respected scientists that tinted lenses prescribed specifically to the needs of patients successfully address symptoms."

The fact that some people think there is some evidence in this direction is not conclusive, and the subject is far far too complicated and contradictory at this point to make definitive statements. As far as I know, there are no solid trials on this sort of treatment, or even supporting the idea that the condition is what people like yourself think it is. Keep in mind that obsessively focusing on one claimed problem could blind you to another real problem or source of sickness. That does no one any good. If your kids feel better wearing lenses, then great. But that's not particulary useful evidence that they really work the way you think they do: even in your kids' case. There are just too many possible confounding factors.

Posted by Bad | December 14, 2007 4:49 PM

truth machine:

"Hmmm. As a parent of two children with a health condition that has been mocked relentlessly by the scientific community"

That's kind of funny when the only people even you mention as slighting their condition are "vision professionals", not "the scientific community". The arrogance, along with a huge dose of intellectual dishonesty and immense self-centeredness, appears to be all yours. Thanks so much for derailing this thread with your hyperbolic accusations.

Posted by truth machine | December 14, 2007 5:00 PM

Unstable Isotope:

I do think there are good science journalists out there, but a lot of coverage of scientific topics is done so badly. Just look at the coverage of climate change, stem cell research and "intelligent design" creationism if you want examples of bad science journalism. It is so great now that we have science bloggers, so we can go to the source and really understand what is happening instead of relying on journalists who practice "he said, she said" journalism.

--Not a lot of that on those topics any more actually.
M.L.

Posted by Unstable Isotope | December 14, 2007 11:56 PM

Barton Paul Levenson:

I note that one of Phil Plait's stalkers is here, probably because Dr. Plait very logically stopped publishing his remarks. I discount the fact that two screen names in a row were used, since it's obviously the same person behind both.

I wonder which pseudoscience this guy worships that Dr. Plait destroyed? Velikovskian astronomy? Apollo never happened? Face on Mars?

Posted by Barton Paul Levenson | December 15, 2007 7:33 AM

craig:

As far as lighting causing dizziness, we Meniere's Syndrome patients have known that for years, and doctors familiar with it have too.

It's just that most doctors don't have a clue - which is why it took about 5 different ones before I got a diagnosis... but when I got to that fifth one, he diagnosed me the second he saw me trying to walk in the door without falling. He had experience with Meniere's. Most doctors don't.

Posted by craig | December 15, 2007 7:44 AM

Kagehi:

My point exactly. Sadly, most doctors *experience* ends almost entirely when they leave school, save for those occasions that they absolutely can't find a cause for a problem, and opt to ask someone else, instead of just telling the patient that they can't find anything, and its all in their heads. Like "they" are qualified in most cases to make that diagnosis, having failed to make the correct one in the first place...

Posted by Kagehi | December 15, 2007 5:43 PM

Patrick:

The vast majority of physicians are not scientists, as has been well pointed out. You're excoriating the wrong profession.

Posted by Patrick | December 16, 2007 8:59 AM

Dave Briggs:

I am very glad you mentioned Science Blog.com! I just mentioned them in a post here. There are 66 blogs and I have been on all of them, a number of times, and plan on going back over and over!
There are some real fantastic people there!
Some of them who's witty insightful humor I can wait to get back to! It's so nice to have them all in one place!

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sam2000

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Posted by 2000 | June 22, 2008 3:45 PM

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Posted by 2000 | June 25, 2008 8:03 PM

John Maas

I wouldn't call not knowing the condition your child had as mocking or laughing. Doctors are trained to do their job just as a worker at a plant. They learn their duties, and then carry out their work. Medicine is constantly evolving, so there is surely a time lag once something "new" is seen.

My eyes hurt when I'm on the computer for too long. Eye doctor said I could get a script that would help me within a foot or so of my face. I sit 2 to 2.5 feet away. Doesn't really help, but lighting plays a major role with the screen and my eyes.

I wish someone could tell me how to handle my problem.

Posted by John Maas | July 10, 2008 11:31 PM

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Posted by rmooosh | July 16, 2008 1:23 PM

rmooosh