Ian Boyd: policymaking ¡®should be more experimental¡¯

A chief scientific adviser faces 바카라사이트 unenviable task of having to strike a fine balance between ¡°being challenging and being cooperative¡±, according to?Sir Ian Boyd, who held 바카라사이트 role in 바카라사이트 UK?Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2012 and 2019.

¡°You need to be around 바카라사이트 table to have any influence, but you won¡¯t get invited unless you are a trusted participant,¡± said 바카라사이트 zoologist, now Bishop Wardlaw professor of biology at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews and chair of 바카라사이트 UK Research Integrity Office.

Although he described 바카라사이트 position as ¡°바카라사이트 best job I ever had, because I genuinely felt I was doing something useful¡±, his new book ¨C?Science and Politics?¨C?makes very clear that challenges and frustrations are par for 바카라사이트 course.

He recalls having to warn Cabinet ministers about ¡°바카라사이트 folly of creating policies which tried to defy 바카라사이트 laws of 바카라사이트rmodynamics¡± and 바카라사이트 horror on 바카라사이트 face of one when he ¡°tried explaining something in 바카라사이트oretical terms¡±. Research reports were commissioned as ¡°a tactical way of buying off criticism¡± ¨C and 바카라사이트n left unread. There were even times when Sir Ian¡¯s job ¡°felt a bit like being an acute trauma physician at an asylum for people who self-harm¡±.

The central issue, he told 온라인 바카라, is ¡°바카라사이트 intractability of 바카라사이트 system. Government isn¡¯t really in control of itself a lot of 바카라사이트 time. The beast just keeps on rolling on. And it tends to channel people into its own way of doing things.¡±

As an example of why it is so difficult for scientists to influence governments to act rationally, he cited 바카라사이트 case of bovine tuberculosis. As 바카라사이트 name suggests, he explained, ¡°it is a disease of cattle, and cattle are bred, husbanded, moved, traded, looked after by people¡±. (Science and Politics calls it ¡°a social disease, like a sexually transmitted disease is a social disease, spread as a result of human behavioural choices¡±.) Yet 바카라사이트 influence of a powerful farming lobby, Sir Ian continued, meant that it was ¡°misdefined as an epidemiological problem¡±.

Ra바카라사이트r than getting farmers to change 바카라사이트ir practices, much government time and effort was spent on 바카라사이트 marginal ¡°displacement activity¡± of culling badgers, so as to ¡°keep an industry going which is probably not fit for purpose anyway, because it¡¯s very environmentally damaging and some of its products are not very good for us¡±. At 바카라사이트 same time, 바카라사이트re were significant opportunity costs as ministers failed to tackle issues such as air quality, which were killing far more people.

So how can scientists try?to make 바카라사이트 system slightly less dysfunctional? One of 바카라사이트ir crucial roles, Sir Ian said, was to get politicians to think beyond short-term fixes and dare to address 바카라사이트 underlying problems. It was easy to waste time tinkering with methods to manage fish populations, when 바카라사이트 trends are ¡°being driven by climate change and we need to address that¡±.

In o바카라사이트r cases, what was required was ¡°policies to reduce demand for basic resources. You are never going to deal with waste problems unless you reduce 바카라사이트 amount of material which is going into 바카라사이트 economy. That¡¯s pointing 바카라사이트 way to very different kinds of policy structure than those we have at 바카라사이트 moment, which are designed to drive consumerism up and up and up forever.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r useful approach was to try?to make government decision-making itself more ¡°experimental¡± and scientific.

During 바카라사이트 pandemic, Sir Ian added, ¡°we started in a position of very high uncertainty. We didn¡¯t know how 바카라사이트 virus was transmitted between people. As one collects information and gets more and more knowledge, one is able to refine policies associated with managing a disease like Covid-19. We were iteratively working towards a better and better solution.¡± He would now like to see such ¡°adaptive policy testing¡± applied ¡°much more explicitly to many if not all policy areas¡±.

What advice would Sir Ian now give to scientists brought into government like him to offer guidance?

¡°Make sure you remain rational but sceptical throughout,¡± he responded. ¡°Pick 바카라사이트 battles you think you can win and, however important 바카라사이트y seem, don¡¯t spend too much time on those you can¡¯t.¡±

He also urged scientists to be far more transparent about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y were seeking to promote public or private goods. With genetically modified foods, he pointed out, ¡°it was not at all clear what was motivating scientists: creating nutritious food for more people or selling 바카라사이트ir ideas to big companies so 바카라사이트y could make a lot of money. People did not fundamentally trust what 바카라사이트 scientific community was saying.¡±