Science Debate 2008

bhmit1 writes "BusinessWeek is reporting about Science Debate 2008, an attempt to put the scientific issues front and center in the US Presidential race. After 12,000 scientists signed on in support of the idea of a debate focused on science, no campaign has replied to an invitation to such a debate. The article notes that only one candidate has said much about science issues in the campaign, and that some who are running are sufficiently anti-science as to deny evolution. There is a link to a comparison of the candidates' positions on issues informed by science. (Yes, Ron Paul is included.)"

Comments

Re:Obama and patents

[Amorymeltzer]

Except, like almost everything he says, it's empty and has nothing behind it. What does "reform" mean? I get it, he wants change, but what does that entail, what does he want? Saying you want to "change something" without saying how is pointless.

Clinton wants

Speed development, testing, and deployment of next-generation launch and crew exploration vehicles to replace the aging Space Shuttle That sounds pretty geeky!

Too bad Kucinich is out, he supported

Kucinich has proposed several technical initiatives in the areas of renewable energy, pollution control, and open source software and media. Maybe he's got a /. account?

Actually, both Richardson (D) and Thompson (R) seem to be the geekiest, they both want to spur kids to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math! Richardson even had numbers to back his proposal up!

A mystery revealed

[shma]

The summary mentions that only one candidate has spoken about science issues during the campaign, without mentioning who it is. I'm sure you'll be as surprised as I was:

"It's hard to get 12,000 scientists to agree on anything," says Alan Leschner, chief of AAAS and former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "But science is the biggest issue facing modern society, and we are concerned that only one candidate--Hillary Clinton--has so far devoted any energy to science."

Re:Obama and patents

[FTL]

Obama has been very clear about support for major increases in science and technology:
    http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/14/barack-obamas-google-friendly-technology-platform/
But the media hardly mentions it; focusing instead on Hillary's tear.

Re:Pro-science can be bad too

[MightyMartian]

It's safe to say the Holocaust would never have happened if Darwin and Mendel hadn't been born.

The idea of racial purity predates Darwin and Mendel by millennia, my friend. This comment of yours is asinine. What made the Holocaust possible was technology. I can well imagine if the Spaniards had had Zyklon-B in the 15th century, they would have got rid of the Jews that way, rather than forced conversion and exile.

It is, in fact, evolutionary biology and genetics which has made a lie of every single racist claim made in the last two or three centuries. The "races" that the Europeans saw are not even logical ways of dividing human populations, they're just simply artifacts of a mariner cultures skipping thousands of miles of intermediate populations.