Making Better use of Scientific Knowledge: Separating Truth from Justice

Abstract

One major reason that scientific information is not often effectively applied in the formation of social policy is that available methods for coping with the uncertainty in scientific judgments are overlooked. Application of such methods is as necessary as reducing uncertainty through the acquisition of more knowledge for these methods result in the more effective use of knowledge already at hand. Furthermore, failure to cope with uncertainty through explicit, analytical methods results in failure to separate fact (truth) from value (justice), which in turn results in wasted knowledge and unnecessary dispute. We present four concrete examples of how such circumstances can be avoided.