Recently a prominent science educator, Stanford’s Jonathan Osborne, opined that the goal of science is consensus. Science is a process whose goal is the discovery of knowledge, a process which often overturn’s consensus.
Recently a prominent science educator, Stanford’s Jonathan Osborne, opined that the goal of science is consensus. Science is a process whose purpose is the pursuit of knowledge, a process which often overturns consensus. Osborne’s statements dismiss the scientific method, and critical thinking as a whole. This view of science would leave us in towards a dark age, with progress suddenly slowing to a halt. Osborne’s view seems to be that knowledge is socially constructed, not based on evidence and measurements, with scientific discovery being reduced to the counting of hands.
Recently a prominent science educator, Stanford’s Jonathan Osborne, opined that the goal of science is consensus. Science is a process whose purpose is the pursuit of knowledge, a process which often overturns consensus. Osborne’s statements dismiss the scientific method, and critical thinking as a whole. This view of science would leave us in towards a dark age, with progress suddenly slowing to a halt. Osborne’s view seems to be that knowledge is socially constructed, not based on evidence and measurements, with scientific discovery being reduced to the counting of hands.
H. Sterling Burnett
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., is the Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy and the managing editor of Environment & Climate News.
