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Royal Academy of Engineering product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jun 16, 2004
The Royal Academy of Engineering is organising a major debate as part of its ongoing work on risk.
The Royal Academy of Engineering is organising a major debate as part of its ongoing work on risk.
It will be held in London on 16th June 2004, and the motion to be addressed is "This house believes that the public is justified in its mistrust of the advocates of new technologies".
A better educated and informed public has developed a growing cynicism and wariness of authority.
The words of politicians, business leaders, medical practitioners, and other professionals are no longer accepted at face value, and suspicion of the proclaimed benefits of much modern technology and science is rife.
Is it a case of the media exploiting public ignorance and fear, and pressure groups attacking specific technologies for political purposes or are recent events such as BSE, Chernobyl, and the phenomena of climate change, symptomatic of the failure of engineers to properly evaluate long-term risks?.
Are engineers capable of understanding and handling the public's fears and anxieties about modern technology?.
Do engineers and other experts display an arrogance that simply exacerbates the problem?.
These and other issues will be debated, both for and against the motion, to an audience with a special interest in these matters by several invited speakers including: Sir Peter Williams, CBE, FREng, FRS, Chairman, Engineering Technology Board; Tony Gilland, Science and Society Director, Institute of Ideas; Prof Kathy Sykes, Collier Chair in Public Engagement in Science and Engineering, Bristol University; and Dr Douglas Parr, Chief Scientist, Greenpeace UK.
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