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Should bureaucrats take Science 101?

It seems that far too many people in positions of power and control have no real idea about essential subjects such as science.

No, I'm not suggesting that every civil servant or politician should have a PhD in physics or chemistry - but I am suggesting that at least a high-school-level understanding of basic science could go a long way towards ensuring that decisions are made on fact and understanding rather than misconception and myth.

The first proof of this can be seen in this story from Arstechnica.

What were they thinking?

The dullards managing the city of Portland Oregon clearly lack even the most fundamental grasp of science and math -- or they'd realise that the urine contamination would be at homeopathic levels by the time it reached anyone's tap.

Or perhaps they are dim enough to believe in homeopathy as well.

But it gets worse...

Clearly, the decision-makers involved in this fiasco don't even realise how ignorant they are -- since they can't even be bothered calling in a suitably bright high school student to do the math for them.

Rather than pay a few hundred (or a few thousand) dollars to a suitably qualified consultant -- they plan to blow $35K fully draining and cleaning the reservoir in question.

Unfortunately, this is the problem we face when public servants are given access to the bottomless pit that is the public purse. Commonsense flies out the window and knee-jerk reactions rule.

Of course this is exactly what's happening at the Tokoroa Airfield right now.

The SWDC's "special projects consultant" has decided that, rather than get some sensible technical advice, he'll simply take that simplest of all bureaucratic paths and *ban* that which he does not understand.

As a result, the council has now banned *all* model aircraft flying at the local airfield -- effectively creating the situation where a very expensive public asset is maintained and operated for the benefit of two or three locals.

I wonder how many other bureaucrats have cost the public purse massive amounts of money through their technical and scientific ignorance -- I suspect the answer is "a lot".

Surely, when dealing with public money, all decision-makers have an obligation to act only when they have obtained sensible, scientific or technical opinions that validate any proposed course of action. Until such a requirement is mandatory, taxpayers and ratepayers will forever be flushing money down the toilet as a result of this ignorance.

Likewise, it would seem sensible for politicians to pass an NCEA-level certification so as to ensure they have at least half a brain. Do we really want the country run by a group of people who can't do basic math, have a reasonable grasp on the English language and understand the fundamentals of the sciences that rule the world around us?

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