Metacognitive reading report 1 about the Medawar Lecture PDF

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Metacognitive Reading Report 1 (40 points). The Medawar Lecture ‘Is Science Dangerous?’Module 1 Section 1. Introduction to Science, Technology, and SocietyName: Labor, MichaellaCourse/Section: GED104/ B32 Date Submitted: 08/23/Instructions: After reading Lewis Wolpert’s The Medawar Lecture 1998 ‘Is ...

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Metacognitive Reading Report 1 (40 points). The Medawar Lecture ‘Is Science Dangerous?’ Module 1 Section 1. Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society

Name: Labor, Michaella Course/Section: GED104/ B32

Date Submitted: 08/23/2021

Instructions: After reading Lewis Wolpert’s The Medawar Lecture 1998 ‘Is Science Dangerous?’, reflect and answer the following questions. 1.

Obligatory Question – What did Lewis Wolpert mean when he stated that ‘reliable scientific knowledge is value-free and has no moral or ethical value’ (p. 1254)? Following this premise, when does science become subjected to questions of ethics and morality?

Science provides us with information about the nature of the planet. Science is the study and gathering of facts and information, as well as the hypothesis of how that data might be used. Science does not have the authority to give moral or ethical value to what it has produced, the legitimacy of science is decided by those who use it. Pure science can't pass moral judgment on what it has uncovered, that choice should be taken by those of us who use and educated by it.

2. Obligatory Question – In urging scientists to understand public concerns, Wolpert maintains, “It is most important that they [scientists] do not allow themselves to become the unquestioning tools of either government or industry” (p. 1258). What did he mean by this? Cite a local example related to the country’s COVID-19-response.

Whenever the public would be urged and pushed to understand more science, scientists will need to learn more about public issues and communicate directly with the public. Scientists' social responsibilities derive from their capability to possess technical knowledge of how the universe works that is not readily available to the public. They must both publicly communicate any societal implications of their work and its technology applications, as well as analyze its accuracy. An example of this

3. Obligatory Question – Lewis Wolpert called eugenics a ‘rare case of immoral science’. Why did he say so? Could the eugenics movement have been otherwise (moral)? Or was it ‘immoral’ right at the start? Defend your answer.

Wolpert called it a rare case of immoral science because of cabinet promulgated a eugenic sterilization law. The biggest point from the eugenics movement's past is whether scientists can misuse their role as interpreters of crucial and complex issues. Scientific information should be value-free and neutral. It can be twisted when combined with a political or social goal. But today the goal of modern eugenics is to prevent and heal hereditary defects. There appears to be any agreement about the preferences of some traits to allow parents to make personal decisions about

their children's traits in the name of their children's health if they are not forced to make choices about their children that follow distinct outlooks of what is good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. Subjectivity is a choice to gratify preferences regarding a child's characteristics isn't so bad if such preferences don't harm or harm the infant.

4. Free Choice Item– Towards the end of his article, Wolpert raised questions regarding the intersections of science and technology with politics. Choose one of the questions Wolpert raised and provide a practical answer/solution to it.

a. How do we ensure that scientists take on the social obligation of making the implications of their work public? Scientists have a responsibility as members of society to communicate and decide the proper use of science in addressing community questions and problems, as well as to contribute their specialty knowledge and skills to conversations that encourage the education of students and citizens, while also improving and enabling informed decisionmaking and democracy. When addressing the obligations of scientists, the nature of the link between research and its product is critical. Nevertheless, a scientist's unique expertise gained via his or her job, education, or practice allows him or her to recognize the science's boundaries and recognize when its execution is a misuse or even abuse of the science. Researchers have a responsibility to not only prevent mistreatment of their work, but also to consider the societal implications....