14th May 2008
Lab coats used to make you a know-it-all
The high point of the authority of science was perhaps the 1950s. In those days one would see on the popular television programs a scientist wearing a white coat with license to speak authoritatively on almost any subject to do with science—and sometimes on subjects outside of science.
Case in point from None For the Road, where a professor of physiology injects rats with alcohol to illustrate drunk driving risks.
But things go wrong in the progress of science and technology. If you see the space shuttle crashing, you can see that these guys in the white coats don’t always get it right.
So, in something of an overreaction, the lab coat in today’s world is seen as a reason to automatically distrust whatever an “expert” says. (I blame the get-rats-drunk scientists for part of this, because, well, they got rats drunk.)
Of course, science isn’t perfect or omniscient. There are no instant revelations — just a gradual process of discovery, refinement of theories, and discussion over interpretation of results. That doesn’t make science useless or completely wrong, nor does it make philosophy or amateur guesswork more trustworthy.
Quotations borrowed from Scientists Know Better Than You — Even When They’re Wrong.
I have to say that I looked forward to being that respected scientist in the white lab coat when I was in primary school. Alas, being a theorist, I’m unlikely to have a legitimate excuse to wear one at work.