A Factual Yet Biased Discipline

I.                    Diversity Balances Biases

Science benefits from practitioners with diverse beliefs, backgrounds, and values to balance out the biases that might occur if science were practiced by a narrow subset of humanity.  As an example, consider the ongoing scientific investigation of climate change.  With such a hot-button issue, personal beliefs about the environment, the economy, business, and politics could unwittingly bias one’s search for or assessment of the evidence.  But science relies on a diverse community, whose personal views run the gamut:  liberal to conservative and all sorts of combinations thereof.  Scientists strive to be impartial and objective in their assessments of scientific issues, but in those occasional cases in which personal biases sneak in, they are kept in check by a diverse scientific community. 

FOCUS:

·         Your paper should do a deep dive into how diverse participants can help advance scientific knowledge.

·         The scientific community is global and diverse

·         The diversity of the scientific community helps facilitate specialization and provides different points of view that invigorate problem solving and balance biases.

·         The scientific community provides the cumulative knowledge base on which science is built.

·         Collaborations and division of labor are increasingly important as our scientific understanding, techniques, and technologies expand.

·         Science is embedded in, and influenced by, the broader society.

·         Scientific research is often focused on topics with the potential to help meet societal needs.

·         A scientific view of the world is useful in our everyday lives, both for solving practical problems and for appreciating the world around us.

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