4/15/05
Collins ch. 3

how valuable are public demonstrations?

the people putting this on think they know how it will turn out
the point is to show an audience what the outcomes of your experiments have been
it can be an effective way of persuading people
but demonstrations can be carefully selected information

general issue was whether it was safe to transport nuclear waste by train
what kind of containers is it in?
how securely is it attached to the train?
where is the route?
what kind of security is there to prevent purposeful harm (eg. terrorists)?
what plans are in place in case there is an accident
if there was an accident, how much harm would it do

this particular demonstration:
in that particular accident, with that particular container, the container safely contained its contents
the container most widely used was weaker than the one tested
the way the accident was set up wasn't the worst possible accident
was this the most likely accident (set up instead to look dramatic) or a decent equivalent?
you can't make any generalizations from a single case--not statistically significant

the news media is not a reliable source:
they show what makes good TV
don't explain key details
what they show may really be carefully planned public relations pieces, not an accurate representation
or they show the opponents because they are the more dramatic story

you need access to expert evaluation of the situation
can you find an impartial source of accurate information?
at least we may be able to listen to experts on both sides