Short abstract:

This talk posits that our understanding and intervention in scientific error correction are fundamentally intertwined with our understanding of communication. Let’s review error correction and retractions through the lenses of signal transfer, rhetoric, speech act theory, and discourse theory.

Long abstract:

In the realm of scientific inquiry, challenges have arisen that cast doubt on the integrity and effectiveness of the scientific endeavor. This presentation critically examines the multifaceted errors in science, encompassing bubbles, hypes, broken promises, incomplete instructions, miscitations, tortured phrases, uncomfortable knowledge, ghost-managed medicines, and general flaws of capitalist techno-science and the publication system.

This exploration posits that language is never neutral and our comprehension and resolution of scientific errors are fundamentally intertwined with our understanding of communication. The talk surveys scientific and science communication through the lens of four distinct language games, each shaping our interpretation of errors and guiding interventions:

1.     Information Signal Transmission: Reviewing en-/decoding errors in information transfer shows how missing keys hinder replication of studies torture technical terms.

2.     Rhetoric: Investigating instances where a speaker's text misses the intended purpose highlights differences of accurate and motivating science communication versus alarmism, hype, and self-over-promotion.

3.     Speech Act Theory: Examining accidental, broken, and ignored promises and truth-claims as commitment for subsequent discourse and action shed light on social conventions and the socio-epistemic values of a retraction.

4.     Discourse Theory: Trend analysis and oppositional reading reveal privileged speaker positions to manufacture truth with power and hinder the investigation, acknowledgement, and dissemination of uncomfortable facts.

With indicators and suggested interventions for each perspective, this talk provides a framework for understanding and addressing errors in science from different angels. It highlights how different language games pre-structure our problem perception and interventions we suggest.