Sriracha in Hot Chocolate for Science
Channel: J. Nathan Matias
Date: 2020-04-17

Should I give this drink to my family without tasting it?

In this video for my Cornell class on the design and governance of experiments, I put Sriracha in my hot chocolate to illustrate the Obligation to Experiment.

In The Obligation to Experiment, my co-authors and I argue that the greater the harm or benefit, the greater reason we have to test something if its effects are unknown. That's even more the case if    the intervention affects large numbers of people.

We already expect testing with food, water, drugs, cars, and electronics, but it's been a longer debate over testing policy and behavioral interventions. While most people wouldn't get but a car that hadn't been independently crash tested, it's still rare to independently test digital interventions on our beliefs and behaviors.

You can learn more about the class here: https://natematias.com/courses/comm4940/syllabus.html