4/27/05
Collins & Pinch ch. 7 and conclusion

expertise can be acquired by unorthodox methods
first hand experience gives you a different kind of expertise
they had expertise on how to get patients to cooperate
the scientists came to listen to the activists
interested people got enough information to actively participate in treatment choices

conclusion:

in real-world science and technology, what is the right answer is pretty messy
we are less accepting of authority, we want to know why
for many reasons people are more questioning of science and technology
we can look at a messy question and evaluate the opinions of different experts and have our own opinions and express them via the democratic process