John Oliver takes on bad science

May 13, 2016

HBO comedian John Oliver has done a hilarious critique on how the media handles science reporting, and it's worth watching  (http://arstechnica.com/staff/2016/05/the-problems-with-science-journalism-dont-start-with-journalists/). He blames the media, the audiences and scientists for profiling and focusing on faulty, badly executed, preliminary studies simply because they deal with topics that he public finds intriguing. These invariably are cancer, dieting, pets and anything having to do with sexual issues and relationships.  He also explains, in a very clear and cogent fashion, the fallacies of extrapolating animals studies to humans and the problem of reporting preliminary observations as if they were estalished, carved in granite facts.

Oliver's segment goes a long ways toward explaining why there are so many scientific papers that are one night stands that are never confirmed or repeated and fade into obscurity, never to see the light of day.

Enjoy!

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