Alan Lightman H’05 Calls for Rebuilding Public Trust in Science

He offered a series of recommendations for scientists, science writers, and the public. "To be effective citizens," Lightman said, "everyone needs to have a basic grasp of scientific concepts and discoveries."

He urged scientists to avoid experiments that carry even a small risk of catastrophic outcomes and to resist or call attention to dangerous applications of their work. On long-term issues like AI and climate change-"which operate on multi-decade time scales, far outside the election cycle of politicians"-he said scientists must not only advise policymakers but also engage the wider public in open, cross-partisan discussion.

"Scientists should present policy options based on a consensus of expert opinion," he said, "but when we engage, we scientists should speak as citizens."

Lightman also cautioned scientists and journalists to communicate responsibly. "Care should be taken to not exaggerate or sensationalize scientific findings," he said, which can distort the public's understanding. "There are too many popular articles that claim a crisis in a scientific field. It's far easier to publish an exclamatory article than one that reports the more ordinary progress of science." Such sensationalism, he believes, fuels mistrust of both scientists and institutions.

Lightman is a professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT, the first person at the university to receive a dual faculty appoinment in the sciences and humanities. He is the author of numerous books, including the novels Einstein's Dreams, an international bestseller, and Mr g, as well as several works of nonfiction.

His talk at Bowdoin was sponsored by the Kenneth V. Santagata Memorial Lecture Fund, the Donald Zuckert Fund, and the Department of Mathematics, in association with the Hastings Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Humanity.