Scientific controversy

This article is about Issues of substantial disagreement among scientists. For fringe science, see Controversial science. For criticism, see Criticism of science.

Sustained scientific debate, sometimes scientific controversy^[1] or persistent disagreement,^[2] is any a substantial disagreement among scientists. A scientific controversy may involve issues such as the interpretation of data, which ideas are most supported by evidence, and which ideas are most worth pursuing.^[1]

Controversies between scientific and non-scientific ideas are not within the realm of science and are not true scientific controversies.^[3] A genuine scientific controversy entails an ongoing discussion within the wider scientific community.^[4] Well known examples include the debate over the existence of the atom that lasted until the turn of the 20th century, the Bohr–Einstein debates, the linguistics wars, or the debate over the causes of ADHD.

Academic debate

See also: Scientific dissent

Scientific discourse happens almost exclusively in writing. Before speaking on a conference, scientists will have written on their subject. Everything prior to writing is usually considered scientific research.

Science-related public debate

Conflict with beliefs

In the situation of even presenting clear and scientifically proven evidence, people will always have their own opinion. "Controversy can be rooted in differing beliefs and values; personal, political, social, and economic interests; fears; and moral and ethical considerations—all of which are central to decisions and typically subject to public debate".^[5]

As described above, individuals have their opinions based on various subjects such as culture, history, ethics, morals, religion, and more. This leads the stance on certain scientific topics to be very different across the board as perceptions vary from person to person, this is the ultimate reason why scientific controversy exists, to begin with. Science-related controversies all follow similar characteristics.

1. Conflict over personal beliefs, values, and interests
2. Public perception
3. Voices behind opinions presented to the public

Nature of science-related public controversies

With science being inconclusive in itself, it leads to a disconnect between individuals. Oftentimes, science gets roped into personal morals and social values which leads to contrasting ideas.^[6] This arises the issue of communicating science in an appropriate manner. Listed below, there are some of the various examples of scientific controversies.

See also

• Biopsychiatry controversy
• List of scientific priority disputes

References

1. Anne E. Egger, Ph.D., and Ph.D. Anthony Carpi. “Scientific Controversy: Process of Science.” Visionlearning, Visionlearning, Inc., 12 Feb. 2017, www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Process-of-Science/49/Scientific-Controversy/181.
2. The Globalisation of Scientific Controversy, www.bmartin.cc/pubs/08globalization.html.
3. What Controversy: Is a Controversy Misrepresented or Blown out of Proportion?, undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/sciencetoolkit_06.
4. McMullin, Ernan (1987-03-27). "Scientific controversy and its termination". Scientific Controversies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 49–92. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511628719.004. ISBN 978-0-521-25565-3.
5. "Home - Books - NCBI." National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books.
6. What Are Personal Morals and Values?, askinglot.com/what-are-personal-morals-and-values.