Science Debate 2008

[kristopher]

The Story
In November, 2007, a small group of six citizens - two screenwriters, a physicist, a marine biologist, a philosopher and a science journalist - began working to restore science and innovation to America’s political dialogue. They called themselves Science Debate 2008, and they called for a presidential debate on science. The call tapped a wellspring of concern over the state of American science.

Within weeks, more than 38,000 scientists, engineers, and other concerned Americans signed on, including nearly every major American science organization, dozens of Nobel laureates, elected officials and business leaders, and the presidents of over 100 major American universities. See who here. Among other things, these signers submitted over 3,400 questions they want the candidates for President to answer about science and the future of America.

The Process
Beginning with these 3,400 questions, Science Debate 2008 worked with the leading organizations listed to craft the top 14 questions the candidates should answer. These questions are broad enough to allow for wide variations in response, but they are specific enough to help guide the discussion toward many of the largest and most important unresolved challenges currently facing the United States.


The Questions and Answers, a Side by Side Comparison

Here: http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=42

[kattenstoet]

1. The Science Debate questions were really bad

I was really disappointed with the questions they posed. They were overly abstract, often not really about science, and never put the candidates on the spot. I mean how on earth could they not have asked about evolution??? So, as a result, there was very little to distinguish the candidates from each other, nor do we get any real insight into the candidates understanding of science or their feelings about its import. With a few exceptions, you could have swapped Obama and McCain's answers and no one would have noticed.

You can read more about this here:

http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=28
http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2008/09/science_debate_2008_its_not_th.php