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We Need to Put the Reproducibility Problem in Perspective

Lorne Trottier

“Let us hope it is not true, but if it is, let us pray it does not become widely known. This (perhaps apocryphal) quote was supposedly made by the wife of the Archbishop Wilberforce about Darwin’s theory of evolution. While interpretations vary, most take this remark to reflect her fear that science will damage people’s belief in religion (at least as she viewed it). In the present context it might be used to express fear that Harris’s skepticism about science will damage people’s faith in science itself.

At a conference on the reproducibility of science I attended several years ago, a participant made a similar remark to that attributed to Mrs. Wilberforce. I share this concern about the credibility of the scientific enterprise in the eyes of the public. We live in a time when established science is under attack by creationists, vaccine and climate change deniers, and other purveyors of pseudoscience. The fact that the majority of published scientific studies are wrong in some way could provide a major boost to science deniers of all sorts.

Defenders of the scientific enterprise need to be prepared to put the problem of reproducibility in perspective, while working actively to improve the quality and reproducibility of research. We need to stress that science does yield reliable knowledge. Despite fits and starts, science identified the infectious agent for AIDS, developed sensitive tests for the virus (protecting countless recipients of blood transfusions), and found ways to stop the replication of the virus (allowing individuals infected with HIV to live normal lives). We have reliable knowledge that vaccines do not cause autism, Laetrile does not cure cancer, and smoking does cause lung cancer. This knowledge comes through the collective enterprise of many scientists, whose work, individually and in some respects, may be flawed. That said, scientists should work to reduce these flaws and improve scientific rigor.

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