14.08.2023
There is an essential distinction that needs to be made between science and science systems. It may seem semantic, but it is not. When we conflate these words, we risk undermining the place of science.
In a commentary for Frontiers Policy Labs, Sir Peter Gluckman writes how we live in a world where trust in science appears less certain, science denial has become an ideological badge and science is undermined by disinformation. Its position relative to other knowledge systems can be questioned and debated.
“Much discussion occurs in the absence of an appreciation of what science is and is not. In short, there can be confusion between science as the knowledge-building system and those organizational systems by which science operates.
This distinction is critical: unless it is clear, we cannot easily advance trust in science so that it can play its key role in social, economic, and environmental futures,” he says.
