between a rock and a hard place

I posit that Science (as a movement and eventual public policy) was borne (in part) of the inability of religious orders and their unsubstantiated posturing to satisfy the natural curiosity and insatiable thirst for knowledge of the people.

However, I sense "the people" are starting to feel the same skepticism and frustration as our ancestors once did, only toward "science" - after so many abusive ad campaigns such as those stating that "4 out of 5 doctors smoke camels", that "BPA is harmless", that pharmaceutical X is good, global warming, etc., who can really blame them (us) for not being satisfied with the answers we're being given.

This is making it increasingly hard for government scientists to convey the importance of certain problems and the benefits of the recommended measures (yes, measures, not "solutions").

Recent press releases from US EPA contain statements like "final" assessments, "science has proven" etc - are a (desperate) attempt to reassure the public - but any such reassurance will be short-lived and they'll be worse off the next time a paper is published that indicates something slightly different, which is what research is supposed to do. The core principle of science is that it does not 'prove" anything - it merely reports on what we can observe and measure now with tools and test methods currently available. Any attempts to convince the public that the science is clear/final/conclusive/etc will inevitably backfire.

Sure makes my job interesting - and I don't even work in communications. Meanwhile, the anti-global warming groups and anti-pharmaceutical groups are having a field day, dancing circles around frustrated well-meaning scientists whose rep has been, I fear, irreparably damaged.

The scientific era is coming to a close, after causing much excitement and advancing our quality of life to the point I can sit very comfortably in my air conditioned two-story house in front of a PC, leisurely typing this away on the internet for nobody in particular to read. Meanwhile, while power generating stations blithely devour fossil fuels that were safely tucked beneath the earth's surface for millions of years, and I know nothing more about my neighbors whose help I may need in the event of an inevitable catastrophe or societal collapse. Religious orders of old are probably shaking their heads, having tried to warn us against eating the forbidden fruit. (sigh) Oh well. I wonder who's winning at Farmville tonight.