Rush Holt is Out of Touch

A few weeks ago in Science, Dr. Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) published an op-ed, “A tale of two cultures,” where he advocates science communication to “rebuild the public's understanding and appreciation” of “science and evidence-based thinking”. He continues, “It must be achieved by demonstrating trustworthiness and the extraordinary effectiveness of science in confronting questions and problems.” About a year ago, Dr. Holt testified before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, that “I'm here to say don't try to reform the scientific process. It has served us well and will serve us well.”

DTLR finds the comments in bold above offensive. For many years on this blog, I have decried the perverse incentives for scientists that has led to sloppy methodology, publication bias, and dissemination of non-reproducible results. Scientific research in this country cannot continue under the status quo – reform is badly needed. Because so much academic and government science is driven by federal funding, it is the task of federal agencies and the Congress to participate in such a reform. Holt's testimony makes it sound like science is just fine the way it is, and please leave us alone to do it. This is not only anti-scientific but anti-democratic. The taxpayers fund science – they deserve for their money to produce reproducible results, not perpetuate a glass-bead game that rewards productivity, not reproducibility.  Non-reproducible research does not demonstrate "trustworthiness" and most certainly does not make science effective in "confronting questions and problems."

Rush Holt is out of touch with the crisis of non-reproducible research and self-destructive incentives built into the infrastructure of our profession.  He is a plasma physicist and former member of Congress from New Jersey, but evidently he is the wrong person to lead a major scientific society.

For more on non-reproducible research, a good summary may be found in NPR reporter Richard Harris' book, Rigor Mortis:  How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions, published last year by Basic Books.