March 2, 2022
What Do Science and Democracy Have to Do with Each Other?
Rush Holt
Director's Visitor, Institute for Advanced Study; former member U.S. House of Representatives, 12th Congressional District
Dan Shapiro, Introducer, and Rush Holt
Minutes of the 22nd Meeting of the 80th Year
The meeting was held virtually by Zoom with 130 members and guests attending. Vice President John Cotton presided. The minutes of the meeting of February 24 were read by Helena Bienstock. Vice President Cotton announced that there were four guests; Rainer Muser was the guest of Frances Slade, Costa Papastephanou was the guest of John Schmidt, and Tish Shanley and Chris Barr were the guests of Lincoln Hollister.
The speaker was the Honorable Rush Holt, Director's Visitor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, and a former member of the US House of Representatives, representing the NJ 12th Congressional District. He was introduced by Daniel Shapiro.
Rep. Holt received a BA in physics from Carleton College, and an MA and PhD from NYU. He taught at Swarthmore College, was a Congressional Science Fellow, an arms control expert at the US Dept. of State and Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served from 1999 to 2015, then served as the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science until his appointment to the Institute for Advanced Study in 2019. His areas of interest include the science and technology of alternative forms of energy, and most recently the relationship between science and technology, and the political process in a democratic society.
Rep. Holt began his talk by citing the COVID epidemic as an example of the sharp division in the American public attitude concerning the virus. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris have publicly stated that their approach will follow the science and that politicians could learn from the scientists. Yet many have rejected the actions recommended by the scientific community but have acted because of opinions that lack a science-based underpinning. Representative Holt said that questions of science or technology are embedded in most legislative issues but are rarely considered in reaching a decision. He pointed out that scientific decisions are based on data and are subject to review and revision as additional data becomes available. On the other hand, opinions can be based on many factors other than data and often become dogma. Thus, scientists and that part of the public who comprehend the scientific methodology are comfortable dealing with uncertainty, while those who base their decision on opinion seek certainty.
Speaking as a retired congressman, Rep. Holt gave the example of legislators at the national level working to craft legislation to establish new standards for voting machines. He said that it was clear that there are many similarities between computers and voting machines. He believed that academic experts in the field of computer research and companies engaged in the technology of computers had scientific knowledge and technical expertise that could be useful in the development of the new standards. However, they were not consulted by the legislators working on the standards. It was clear that the legislators viewed the development of the standards as a political and not a scientific problem.
Representative Holt noted that public belief in science and the results yielded by scientific methodology has decreased in the past 50 or so years while the part of the public seeking to use opinion and dogma to find answers to the complex issues of today has grown. He said that this trend may be the result of several factors such as the decrease in the education of the public in the general principles of science and scientific methodology, an attitude held in some parts of the science community that science is only the province of scientists, and the complexity of the issues facing society today. As a result, we have created a society that is dependent on science and technology but has been told that science is not for them but for scientists. As result, a large segment of our society does not understand nor accept the science nor the resulting technology as factual.
Rep. Holt closed by suggesting that there is a need to improve public education in the basics of science and scientific methodology, and that the decision process in a democratic society requires a public that is both educated and engaged.
A spirited question and answer period followed his excellent talk during which he completely validated his memorable achievement in the arena of television entertainment as a five-time winner in the TV quiz show Jeopardy.
Respectfully submitted,
Bernie Miller
The speaker was the Honorable Rush Holt, Director's Visitor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, and a former member of the US House of Representatives, representing the NJ 12th Congressional District. He was introduced by Daniel Shapiro.
Rep. Holt received a BA in physics from Carleton College, and an MA and PhD from NYU. He taught at Swarthmore College, was a Congressional Science Fellow, an arms control expert at the US Dept. of State and Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served from 1999 to 2015, then served as the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science until his appointment to the Institute for Advanced Study in 2019. His areas of interest include the science and technology of alternative forms of energy, and most recently the relationship between science and technology, and the political process in a democratic society.
Rep. Holt began his talk by citing the COVID epidemic as an example of the sharp division in the American public attitude concerning the virus. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris have publicly stated that their approach will follow the science and that politicians could learn from the scientists. Yet many have rejected the actions recommended by the scientific community but have acted because of opinions that lack a science-based underpinning. Representative Holt said that questions of science or technology are embedded in most legislative issues but are rarely considered in reaching a decision. He pointed out that scientific decisions are based on data and are subject to review and revision as additional data becomes available. On the other hand, opinions can be based on many factors other than data and often become dogma. Thus, scientists and that part of the public who comprehend the scientific methodology are comfortable dealing with uncertainty, while those who base their decision on opinion seek certainty.
Speaking as a retired congressman, Rep. Holt gave the example of legislators at the national level working to craft legislation to establish new standards for voting machines. He said that it was clear that there are many similarities between computers and voting machines. He believed that academic experts in the field of computer research and companies engaged in the technology of computers had scientific knowledge and technical expertise that could be useful in the development of the new standards. However, they were not consulted by the legislators working on the standards. It was clear that the legislators viewed the development of the standards as a political and not a scientific problem.
Representative Holt noted that public belief in science and the results yielded by scientific methodology has decreased in the past 50 or so years while the part of the public seeking to use opinion and dogma to find answers to the complex issues of today has grown. He said that this trend may be the result of several factors such as the decrease in the education of the public in the general principles of science and scientific methodology, an attitude held in some parts of the science community that science is only the province of scientists, and the complexity of the issues facing society today. As a result, we have created a society that is dependent on science and technology but has been told that science is not for them but for scientists. As result, a large segment of our society does not understand nor accept the science nor the resulting technology as factual.
Rep. Holt closed by suggesting that there is a need to improve public education in the basics of science and scientific methodology, and that the decision process in a democratic society requires a public that is both educated and engaged.
A spirited question and answer period followed his excellent talk during which he completely validated his memorable achievement in the arena of television entertainment as a five-time winner in the TV quiz show Jeopardy.
Respectfully submitted,
Bernie Miller