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ON SATURDAY APRIL 22, scientists from all over Ireland will be gathering at Grand Canal Square before marching to Government Buildings.
They will be marching to celebrate their passion for science and as a call to support and safeguard the scientific community and evidence-based policy. It will be one of more than 400 marches taking place around the world on April 22. Fittingly, it also marks “Earth Day” — an annual event that promotes environmental protection and changing human behaviour.
The main march will be in Washington DC and is a reaction to the growing concern among the scientific community that irreparable damage could be done by a US administration that does not seem to value scientific research or evidence-based policies.
A controversial movement borne out of problematic policy changes
The initial idea to march for science can be traced back to the social news aggregation website Reddit. In response to the removal of references to climate change on the White House website in late January, a Reddit user suggested marching for science.
The idea quickly took root and a global movement was born. As well as its rapid growth, another defining aspect of the March for Science is how it became a contentious issue among scientists.
Some feel that science has always been political and will become even more so over the years ahead. While many feel that there is no choice but to stand up for science and defend its future, others argue that a mass public demonstration by scientists might speed up the politicisation of science and ultimately do more harm than good.
Marching for diversity, inclusivity and choice
Although the scientific community is largely nonpartisan, it recognises that its core strengths are its diversity and inclusivity.
Any threats to those values are threats to scientific progress. In a letter published in the Journal of Science Communication recently, I asked if scientists in Ireland should be more politically active.
While scientists in the US have been protesting against laws that remove nondiscrimination protections as well as the proposed travel bans barring immigration from Muslim-majority countries, Ireland has its own laws that violate human rights.
The March for Science represents an ideal opportunity to have our voices heard. Like our colleagues in the US, we could use our academic positions as platforms to advocate for equality as well as for science itself.
The March for Science in Ireland
In an ideal world scientists could remain apolitical, but in the current climate that is becoming increasingly difficult.
We are lucky that in Ireland the march is being spearheaded by Dr Shaun O’Boyle, a scientist and science communicator, whose experience and diplomacy has ensured that March for Science in Ireland has not been affected by some of the issues that have plagued the wider movement.
Together with his dedicated team, Dr O’Boyle has managed to navigate the political quagmire by making people and communities the focus of the event.
March with us
Ultimately, scientists will be joined by science advocates and concerned citizens to march on April 22nd because the alternative — doing nothing — is unthinkable.
The time might have come for us to not only stand up for science, but to stand up for the values that are critical to scientific progress. We invite anyone who supports scientific research, evidence-based policies and equality to take a stand and be counted with us.
Dr Joseph Roche is an Astrophysicist and Assistant Professor in Science Education at Trinity College Dublin. He coordinates the Master in Science Education programme at Trinity College and tweets as @joeboating. To hear more about the March for Science in Ireland you can follow @ScienceMarchIE.
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YEAH SCIENCE.
Facts, evidence and statistics should not be part of politics! I want my political representative to be someone I could share a pint with, someone who doesnt use big words that confuse me and someone who changes subjects when asked a question they dont like. Science should be outlawed, it teaches young people to think critically, which is dangerous and scary.
@Rudiger McMonihan: The problem with people today is that unknown to them they are being indoctrinated by the likes of Paul Murphy’s mass appeal to their emotions. I feel like….. And without checking the ” Feeling” against the facts one can be lead/fooled into believing and voting for anything. Their plan is ” I believe it so I must be right” and everybody who says otherwise must be corrupt.
How is a march for science linked to stemming the flood of Muslims into the Western world. Is it a “Do what I say protest”, or “Believe what we tell you” protest? I love science, but if you start turning science into a political vehicle for your warped ideology, you’re only going to hurt the advancement of science in the end.
@George Orwell: The march is about using evidence to base your decisions. The muslim ban was just one example of a policy that wasnt evidence based. The judge that threw it out even said so. The current US administration is trying to dismantle the EPA, National Parks and Public School system. These are things scientists SHOULD protest.
I agree that it should be focused on science – but the fact that Trump is anti-science really can’t be disputed at this stage.
A sad day for science.
The theory of equality has now overtaken the theory of relativity.
Anyway, important to remember as always:
What science argues as ‘irrefutable proof’ today will be thrown in the waste bin of human knowledge tomorrow.
@Jack Cassady: You clearly don’t understand the scientific method.
Ignorant comment. There are elements of scientific thought that are accepted today that will later turn out to be incorrect, but that doesn’t mean we have everything or even most things wrong.
You’ve taken an element of truth (things we accept today may be discovered to be false) and used it to claim something ridiculous – we should follow current evidence because the alternative is basing things off opinion and subjectivity.
Where’s a thumbs down when you need one
@Jack Cassady: thumb down
@Jack Cassady: If scientists knew the answer then it wouldnt be research the whole point of research is to find the answers. For an answer to be proven it has to be tested and they sometimes dont hold true
Something like this is needed more than ever in ireland locally as well as the world in general. We see overwhelming scientific evidence dismissed by vested interests, religious zealots and good old fashioned conspiracy theorists. Most of us dismiss them for the cranks they are but when we see irish politicians speak ignorantly about vaccines, fluoridation, evolution and climate change (to name a few), it is up to all of us to stand up and be counted
Sunday is the 23rd not the 22nd. Bit ironic getting a basic fact wrong about a science march!
Is there any evidence that marching increases rational behaviour and/or advances the interests of scientists?
@Ben McArthur: marching achieves nothing. The 1% couldn’t give a damn. They have the military in their pockets too.
Hilarious stuff !!
Are they gonna also agree that there are only 2 genders?
What a crock of sh!t this article is, it promotes science as advocacy, not impartial.
I could never imagine Richard Feynman going on a march for science, and that has got to be the test.
At this point and time we should all be marching for world peace.
I am not kidding, these people literally can’t manage to express the facts of a round and rotating Earth.
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/JennyChen.shtml
It is a long,long story however it is in direct conflict with the Latitude/Longitude system which equates one hour time difference with 15 degrees of geographical separation and accurate clocks were originally designed to maintain the fact that the Earth turns at a rate of 15 ° per hour and a full 360° in 24 hours. This represents an Equatorial speed of 1037.5 miles per hour .
https://polydesmida.info/locationsintasmania/images/latlon1.png
There are a lot of academic voodoo merchants out there crying about the ‘scientific method’ which came in under the radar as the ‘theory of gravity’ which proposes that experiments at a human level scale like the fall of an apple up to celestial structures such as planetary motion hence the overreaching modelling catastrophe we inherit -
“Rule III. The qualities of bodies, which admit neither [intensification] nor remission of degrees, and which are found to belong to all bodies within the reach of our experiments, are to be esteemed the universal qualities of all bodies whatsoever.” Newton
If people wonder where the idea that you can squeeze the Earth and its atmosphere into the conditions of a common greenhouse then they will find it there and it is not scientific,it is empirical cult modelling.
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