Reprinted from Curmudgeon’s
Wastebasket Originally Posted January 22, 2010
This alludes to the
alarmist publicity given to the early speculation regarding impending global
warming.
“Curmudge, I see that you are
reading the editorial and opinion pages of the newspaper.”
“It takes less time, Jaded Julie.
The regular news pages contain a lot of useless stuff like the latest
indiscretions of professional athletes and entertainers, and they often omit
information that is truly important. In addition, the ‘news’ sometimes contains
‘spin’ that is hard to detect.”
“Okay, so what’s wrong with spin in
the news?”
“If you see the ‘spun’ information
again and again, you might eventually believe it. Ultimately, it may become an
urban legend (the Brits call it an urban myth) in which you acquire
unquestioning faith.”
“That doesn’t sound good, Curmudge,
especially if the info is wrong or at least uncertain. So why should this
subject be of interest to people working in health care?”
“Virtually no one that I know in health
care has time to read the news critically. Perhaps we can provide some guidance
to help them avoid getting hoodwinked by what they read. We’ll also give a
refresher on the ethics of ‘speaking with data.’ "
“How can we do that, Old Guy?”
“In our next few conversations we’ll
suggest some cautionary signals that will alert the reader to possible spin.
Things like confusion over cause-and-effect and the possible impact of vested
interest in reported information. We’ll also mention some less familiar, but
in-the-news, topics like mathematical models and peer-reviewed research
publications. One story will be an allegory, and another will be a play
starring you as a tired-out Italian nurse, Spossate Infermiera.”
“Wow! I can hardly wait. But I’ll
bet there are some people out there who are so set in their beliefs that they
will consider your ideas to be just the ranting of an old man.”
“That’s okay, Julie. My age is my
license to rant.”
“I presume that every one of our
conversations will have a lesson. Can we add a short lesson to end your tirade
for today?”
“Sure, Jaded Julie. Here it is: When
a writer quotes a politician who is talking about science, put on your
skeptic’s hat.”
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