Science doesn't exist in a vacuum. Values always play a role, especially in thorny issues like climate change. Here, @christelvaneck.bsky.social@lydiamessling.bsky.social & I argue it's time to move beyond the pipe dream of neutrality + empower scientists to engage openly with societal values. 🧪

I just wrote Christel an email praising this paper! Thanks for writing it, I often get questions about this in public talks

I’ve always find this neutrality myth baffling

Nicely done.

"Science doesn't exist in a vacuum." Tell that to Dyson.

A doctor who has a chronic illness was told they cannot be allowed on an expert panel on said chronic illness as they would be "biased." It is exactly as telling a disabled researcher they cannot be trusted with research on disability. Neutrality principle in science is, in itself, unaccounted bias.

👏

Thank you for posting this. My take: Values play a role - absolutely. I welcome the article's take on examining boundaries of values. Above all, though, I think that transparency in the debates is important - where are the facts, where are the values, how do they combine to make a case?

This is such a critical issue. A shocking number of people/institutions think science exists outside of values and politics (formal or informal). Refusing to discuss/engage either doesn’t immunize us - it just renders us blind to the impact of values and politics on our work.

The old neutrality argument. Thanks for writing this. I always use forests as an example. I work in forests because I like trees. Grasslands are fine, but they are hot and you have to bend over to measure things.

I propose the following: so long as certain actors in the public sphere (looking at you, GOP*) insist on politicizing science, scientists have every right weigh in on values. *I realize Copernicus and Galileo might like a word if they were available.