'Scientist' bashing science? (Score 1)

"Herberman is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now - especially when it comes to children."

I find it extremely odd that a scientist (head of a cancer institute) would take such a position for two reasons. First, basing a decision on unpublished data that hasn't been vetted by fellow scientists in a peer review process has been problematic in the past. We've had too many problems with alarms/hopes raised from bogus findings that were broadcast without proper peer review. Peer review is an important part of science and it is usually pseudo-scientists (like young earth creationists) who are eager to bypass it. As a scientist, I thought he would be aware of these past problems and only put stock in findings that have been fully vetted by the scientific community.

The second problem is the implied criticism that science takes too long to give us answers. Honestly, if what was really important was a fast answer, there are any number of methods that would do the trick; Magic-8 ball, flip a coin, entrails of a goat, etc. No one here would argue that those admittedly faster methods are better ones. Good science does take some time (although even the time frame can vary depending on the subject and the issue being researched), but I personally think the right answer is better than a fast guess in many cases. Sounds a bit like he is advocating 'Shoot first and aim later' in this regard.