Tag Archives: knowledge is power

The passive is political

Posted on September 30, 2020 by

If Saruman is the stupid shit people say, I have often found Grima Wormtongue is the use of the passive voice. To the uninitiated: Wormtongue was a slimy fellow on Saruman’s side in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Op-eds | Tagged active voice, internet age, knowledge is power, mainstream press, Markandey Katju, Marshall McLuhan, meta-analysis, passive voice, science communication, scientific literature, scientific writing, The Souffle, writing | Comments Off

Science journalism, expertise and common sense

Posted on March 29, 2020 by

On March 27, the Johns Hopkins University said an article published on the website of the Centre For Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), a Washington-based think tank, had used its logo without permission and distanced itself from the study, … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm, Science | Tagged ad hominem, authoritarianism, CDDEP, cherry-picking, common sense, complexity, coronavirus, COVID-19, epistemology, expertise, knowledge is power, novel coronavirus, Ramanan Laxminarayan, science journalism, Times of India | Comments Off

Something worse than a flat-Earth society

Posted on May 10, 2018 by

Read two interesting articles this morning: 1. An editorial in the Indian Express about how India is the “land of the gullible”, where even the “mere trappings of science suffice to tantalise” people into believing BS and coughing up fortunes … Continue reading →

Posted in Scicomm | Tagged flat earth society, knowledge is power, Michael Foucault, Ramar Pillai | Comments Off