spain's el país: scientists and politicians need "translators"
2024-08-29
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spanish newspaper el país, august 27, original title: there should be a middleman between scientists and politicians spain is building an ecosystem of scientific advisors to institutions, and we can't help but ask: to what extent do we need a middleman between politics and science? can't decision-makers pick up the phone and ask scientists directly for solutions to reduce educational failures, fight misinformation, neutralize pollution emissions or solve the problem of "poverty"? the answer is obvious, and there are many arguments in favor of the idea that there should be a middleman between scientists and politicians.
many studies have shown that scientists and politicians often look at the same issue from different perspectives, so there should be a coordinator between them who has the perspectives of both sides.
the coordinator should be fluent in the jargon of scientists, understand the different time zones of science and politics (science is often a slow and meticulous process that looks ahead to medium- or even long-term results, while politics, on the contrary, focuses more on the present), and understand that scientists and politicians have different goals (the former are to expand the boundaries of human knowledge, while the latter are to rationally use resources and make decisions to solve specific problems, even if this decision will never be unanimously accepted by society, and when making decisions, they cannot care about personal gains and losses in the next election).
therefore, it is important to understand that the information that decision makers need to make decisions is very different from what scientists produce. regardless of the discipline, scientific results are mainly reflected in complex papers or articles published in high-level professional journals. today, these results have become the main tool for judging scientists' abilities, so publishing articles has become a top priority in scientists' daily work. however, such results need to be translated before they can be truly used by decision makers.
therefore, coordinators need to identify which scientists are authorities in a certain field (often politicians are not sure which scientists are the most appropriate to consult) and which institutions are reliable (for example, the spanish national science institute, universities and think tanks).
at the same time, coordinators need to understand and translate scientific results and the needs of decision makers, be good at listening to the opinions of experts and officials, and have the ability to apply science to reality.
coordinators need to know that the information that decision makers need should be based on the public political context in which they are located. when promoting a public initiative to solve a social problem, decision makers need to seek opinions from the scientific community from all aspects. the first thing decision makers need to do is to understand what problem they should solve, what causes the problem, what results will be produced by various decisions, how wide the impact is; if the problem is not solved, what will it evolve into... secondly, they need to know to what extent the problem should be solved, such as "achieving carbon neutrality by 2025" this goal can be achieved by current science and technology? once a decision is made to implement a certain measure, the most critical thing is to decide who will be responsible. if politicians believe that it is necessary to provide health care for residents, should they go through the public health care system or commercial procedures? which one is more effective and fairer to citizens? whether politicians value efficiency or equality more is related to their decision-making.
therefore, when implementing public projects, it is extremely necessary to draw on research results from all over the world. but obviously, such scientific research should be patiently scrutinized and polished by serious, rigorous, and professional people, and converted into practical solutions. in this way, we can ensure the competitiveness, transparency, objectivity and independence of scientific consultants. (translated by luo run)
