ABSTRACT
For the nonscientist, evaluating scientific information (such as data on uncertain but likely risks) has much in common with buying a used car. 1 As wary consumers, we need both technical and social information. We think it is important to have technical data on the car’s gas mileage, its history of ownership and use, its age, engine performance, mechanical condition, and so on. Yet we also want social information, such as what kind of reputation the seller, the manufacturer, and the specific make and model have; who the sellers are; and why they want to sell the car (why they might, for example, be anxious to sell). In short, we want to know whether information is being hidden—or hyped! The less comfortable we are with the task of assessing the technological evidence, the more stock we must put in evaluating the social evidence. However, few of us are such masters of internal combustion technology that we would fail to be equally concerned with these issues of social trust.
