The news regarding Encyclopedia of Living II gave me a chance to think about some important topic for anyone: the relationship between politics and science.
Lost your job? You're not the only one, man!
Lost your job? You're not the only one, man!
People may want to belive that science is independent of politics, but sadly in this real world, science is often subordinate to politics.
Anyway, some people may not know what is the Aruaru scandal (the scandal with regard to Encyclopedia of Living II) . Here is the newspaper article that describe it:
From the Japan Times
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007
Kansai TV pressed for details on false 'natto' info
Kyodo News
Kyodo News
Telecommunications minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday he will ask Kansai Telecasting Corp. to report by Feb. 7 the details of its fact-finding probe into a program that used fabricated data purporting the weight-loss effects of "natto."
"We've received a report on the situation of (the broadcaster's) fact-finding work. But we have yet to get satisfactory answers" to questions about what happened and what was behind the data fabrication, Suga said.He indicated that in line with the Radio Law, he will demand thorough details covering not only the Jan. 7 program, whose data fabrication was first revealed, but also others, if any.
"New facts fueling suspicion that similar data fabrication might have occurred in past programs have been reported," he said.
The Osaka-based broadcaster has come under fire since admitting it aired deceptive data and comments in the Jan. 7 episode of "Hakkutsu! Aruaru Daijiten II" ("Encyclopedia of Living II").
The show was about the presumed weight-loss effects of a natto diet and sparked a run on natto. The company has admitted the program used fabricated data and false statements by experts.
Suga also plans to ask the broadcaster to report how its system of checking the credibility of program content worked, because two other companies were involved in the production of the variety show, ministry officials said.
The Radio Law authorizes the telecommunications minister to request such a fact-finding report "for the purpose of maintaining the order of radio communications or ensuring the proper operation of radio stations."If you want more details, please go to the Japan Times Online (see Link List). Anyway, the broadcasting staffs ignored scientic-based results in order to convince viewers that natto is very effective to lose their weights. I can see viewers who knew that the broadcaster made it up really pissed off. I belive, though that the staffs did it following their rational choice.
I don't support them, but I try to understand the process of their reasoning. Maybe it costs them a lot of money to make one TV show. What if they knew that what they have done for the show could be useless? Wouldn't they think up a way to make their work effective? Keep your mouth shut and broadcast! Probably that's the way.
What I want to mention here is not to convince you that we should forgive you the staff of the program, but to let you know that scidentists need to know that they will be used by (political) power. The study of an economist that concludes Japan is going to have more depression might be ignored because the result definitely seems to depress Japanese people.
Oops, I've got to explain this to some of you who are reading this despite of native speakers of Japanese. "Science" is not always "kagaku（科学）" or "rika（理科）."Here is definitions of the word "science" from Merriam-Webster:
the state of knowing
something that may be studied and learned like systematized knowledge
These two difinitions can apply to economics or sociology, can't they? Yes, science is not limited to astromony, physics, chemistry, which are called natural science. It includes social science.
When Japan introduced the concept of "science" from the Western World, they only imported the usage of science as natural science. So, even now when Japanese people read English, they have difficulty understanding the part that includes the word "science" because of that.
I know you didn't know it, Mr. Shimura, but you're part of it in a way.
We gotta get back to the point. What were we talking about? Oh, yes. About the relationship between science and politics (I use this term almost as a synonym of "power" here). Science is often dependent on politics, sadly.
By the way, TV host or other TV personalities in this show aren't criticized. It seems like people are feeling sympathy for them, but aren't they really responsible for this scandal?
I know you didn't know it, Mr. Shimura, but you're part of it in a way.We gotta get back to the point. What were we talking about? Oh, yes. About the relationship between science and politics (I use this term almost as a synonym of "power" here). Science is often dependent on politics, sadly.
By the way, TV host or other TV personalities in this show aren't criticized. It seems like people are feeling sympathy for them, but aren't they really responsible for this scandal?
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