Skepticism & the Architecture of Trust

Research Article| May 01 2012 Skepticism & the Architecture of Trust Douglas Allchin Douglas Allchin 1DOUGLAS ALLCHIN has taught both high school and college biology and now teaches history and philosophy of science at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455; e-mail: allchin@sacredbovines.net. He is a Fellow at the Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science and edits the SHiPS Resource Center (ships.umn.edu). He hikes, photographs lichen, and enjoys tea. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (2012) 74 (5): 358–362. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2012.74.5.17 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Douglas Allchin; Skepticism & the Architecture of Trust. The American Biology Teacher 1 May 2012; 74 (5): 358–362. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2012.74.5.17 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search Consider the recent controversy over prostate cancer screening. A Presidential Task Force scaled back recommended testing. But many doctors, citing important cases of detecting cancer, disagreed (Harris, 2011; Brownlee & Lenzer, 2011). Whose judgment should we trust? New England fish populations are threatened, according to experts. They suggest discontinuing cod fishing. But the fishermen report no decrease in their catches and defend their livelihood (Goodnough, 2011; Rosenberg, 2011). Whose expertise should prevail: the scientists’ with their sampling and its inherent uncertainties, or the fishermen’s with their intimate local knowledge? There is a lot of alarm about global warming. But maybe it’s all “hot air.” Many political leaders, including several presidential candidates, cite scientific experts who say that the problem is overblown, and just politicized by biased environmental activists. Whose pronouncements should we heed? As illustrated in these cases, interpreting science in policy and personal... You do not currently have access to this content.