When you read something in the news, or watch a newscast on TV, or hear something from a friend, what you take from it depends on how much you trust that particular source. Your trust can be influenced by what you know about the source’s bias. Here at On Pasture, your trust in us is very important. That’s why we want you to know what our bias is is.
I am biased towards explanations rooted in science. If someone tells us “such and such”* happens when you do “this and that”** and encourages everyone to do “this and that” I’ll ask for more information, for data, and I might ask how the data was gathered. After that, I’ll likely do some digging to see what other research has been done, and what the results were of those experiments. If I learn that doing “this and that” really does result in “such and such,” I’ll climb aboard the bandwagon and tell others why they should too.
The reason I like the scientific process is that it is a format for an on-going dialogue that helps us move forward together. Progress may be slow, but it is intended that way to be careful. Because scientists are human, they may make mistakes, and they may not realize their mistakes, or they may not want to admit to them. But other scientists will come along and ask a few more questions, maybe in a different way, that helps the rest of us say, “Oh, that first thing wasn’t right, and this new thing makes more sense.” It’s like lifelong learning for the whole planet.
There are going to be disagreements along the way, and sometimes the process takes decades, or even longer. That’s not a bad thing, even though sometimes we’d just like to know the answers already! But when it comes to writing and sharing the stories with you, I want to make sure that what we are talking and writing about has been proven scientifically. Because that’s my bias.
*”such and such”, a term used here to describe a remarkable and positive outcome
**”this and that”, a similar term, used to express a potentially effective agronomic practice
