In our second episode, we discuss the role of skepticism in science, a topic that relates closely to the title of our podcast. Given that the scientific enterprise is essentially an exercise in organized skepticism, how can we maintain a healthy amount of skepticism while also ensuring that scientists don't slip into cynicism or nihilism? 

Shownotes

• Opening quote by Imre Lakatos from Science and Pseudoscience. Hear it from the man himself. 
  

• Quote by Debra Mayo. Original reference: Mayo, D. G. (2018). Statistical inference as severe testing: How to get beyond the statistics wars. Cambridge University Press.

In our first episode, we discuss a quote from the preface to The Instauratio Magna (of which Novum Organum is a part), in which Bacon claims that scientists should be motivated to do science for the betterment of mankind, and not for personal motives like fame, fortune, or even fun. 

Here is the tweet (by Heidi Seibold) on academia not being aligned with good scientific practices.

An unedited transcript of the episode can be found here. 

In this introductory episode, Daniël and Smriti share which podcasts they like, why they are starting their own, and how their connection to each other is also tied to podcasting. They also talk about the theme of the podcast, which is inspired by Francis Bacon’s delineation of the scientific method 400 years ago.