How can we restore trust in science?
Many people associate science with certainty, but the truth is that the scientific method depends on failure and being wrong. It’s how we learn what works and what does not. This gap between public perception and scientific reality can cause people to lose trust in science. How can we build understanding and trust between scientists and the public? The Meta-Problem Method can help.
Complex problems are often vague and have many possible solutions. The Meta-Problem Method may lead you far away from the dilemma that started your quest. That’s because the method forces you to clarify what you really want and what you are willing to give up. It enables you to compare objectively the possible pathways and their trade offs. It prevents you locking into solutions mode too early and then doubling down on solving a low-yield problem that does not serve your goals as well as the alternatives. At the end of this process, you will have a better understanding of your priorities and how to achieve them.
Steps in the Meta-Problem Method
Dilemma
The high-level issue you are trying to address
Communicate the current state of scientific knowledge.
Goal
The changes you want to make to address the dilemma. There are usually many options.
Supporting Goals
- People have accurate scientific information.
- People trust science.
Other goals could include the completeness of the public’s scientific knowledge, people make decisions based on good science, and people are able to adapt when new information replaces the old.
Problem Space
The set of problems you could chose to solve to advance your goals, plus the constraints that hold you back.
Example problems
- How can we communicate currently accurate scientific information? Maybe the problem to solve is “Which caveats do we need to include when explaining a scientific result?”
- How can we increase the public’s trust in science? Maybe the problem to solve is “How can we change people’s beliefs so they can see the trustworthiness of science?”
There are many other potential problems to solve related to trust in science. Each goal has many possible problems we could link to it. Are there other problems linked to these first two goals? Which options come to mind for the other goals?
High-Yield Problems
Sometimes solving one problem helps make progress towards several goals. In this step, we identify these “two-for-the-price-of-one” problems.
Which options will advance more than one goal?
- Simplifying scientific results without dumbing them down gives people accurate scientific information and allows them to make decisions based on good science. However, information alone may not change their minds, is unlikely to increase trust, and does not help explain why current scientific results may disagree with the past.
- Sharing stories of the scientific discovery process and the reasons for changes in current knowledge will increase trust in science, give people accurate information, and help them understand why old knowledge is being replaced. However, telling these stories well requires skills and mindsets that most scientists have not been trained in.
There are many potential solutions that will have varying effects on the set of goals. Which alternatives improve the most important goals? How might the unknown change the right path forward? What other possible solutions are there to address the dilemma?
Problem Selection
Which of the many possible options in the high-yield problem step is the best set to address the dilemma?
- Which solutions make the most sense when investing in science?
- Which solutions will best address the dilemma?
- Which solutions will deliver the best outcome for the least amount of time, effort and money?
Implement, Learn and Adapt
Check continuously that you are still solving the best problem, as new information emerges.
Observe and learn as you go. As new information reveals itself, check continuously that you’re still solving the right problem.