The text below is a translation of the text published in RAC1 radio station webpage.

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After experiencing a pandemic where the mathematical and predictive models of science have shaped our daily lives, and now that environmental challenges such as climate change or drought also rely on scientific models, a new academic movement is beginning to grow that advocates for a different thesis.

Arnald Puy is a professor and researcher at the University of Birmingham, and he specifically focuses on questioning the mathematical models that governments, companies, and institutions use to predict the future. In other words, he dedicates himself to challenging the reliability of predictions made about large complex issues, as he explained on Via lliure.

The importance of popular wisdom

What Arnald and the academics of his movement argue is that, in the face of current and crucial challenges such as climate change and drought, "popular wisdom" must also be taken into account. Because "when making decisions, it allows the results to be much more robust."

They recommend that governments, when confronting major social and political challenges, "consider academic science and mix it with non-academic knowledge."

Puy also argues that the problem of not taking into account this "popular wisdom" can lead to science and the models used having "undesirable results."

To hear the interview (in Catalan), follow the steps below:

• Click this link.
• Search for a podcast entitled "L'avís d'un investigador català a Birmingham als governs: "No s'escudin només en la ciència" ("The warning from a Catalan researcher in Birmingham to governments: "Don't just take refuge in science"), broadcasted the 24-12-2023.
• Click play.