ALL humans have the right to freely voice their views, concerns and opinions on any topic, and have them represented. We are all passengers on spaceship earth and have a vested interest in sustaining life. But who would consult an Amazonian witchdoctor when his car needed repairing? No one. So why are the media increasingly full of people who clearly know nothing, pontificating about the dangers of scientific and engineering developments? Why do politicians, members of the cloth and others with irrelevant titles, education and experience see fit to alarm the public on the basis of no knowledge and unbridled ignorance?

In the latest round of noise and panic, we have genetic engineering in the sights of these modern witchdoctors and seers. Genetic engineering is thousands of years old - our species has been modifying strains of plant and animal life to its advantage for aeons - so why the sudden interest and panic? And why all the statements about this being the realm of God, forbidden to us? Scientists and engineers choose to publicise and inform society of the amazing advances they are making on our behalf. Cheaper, fresher, longer-lasting and disease-free food do seem to warrant a mention. But listen to the roar of protest. There is a plethora of important matters that society needs to address, but it requires informed and intelligent debate, not panic reactions.

Have we reached a point where the general education of our population has fallen so far behind that people cannot understand the basics of plant and animal breeding, slow, indirect genetic modification compared with direct intervention? It would appear so. This is a dangerous state for any society.

Once technology has reached the point where it appears like black magic, we have a major problem. It is even more so if technology is black magic to the majority of the influential voices and decision-makers.

Everything from computers and aircraft systems to energy supplies and food production is now provided by technology that is incomprehensible to the vast majority of the population and most decision-makers. They complain that scientists and engineers do not paint a clear picture so that they can understand. Not for them educational effort; technology is merely there to be exploited, and should never be understood. It should be realised that science and engineering do not deal in certainty; there is no full and clear picture, and there never will be. With greater knowledge comes greater responsibility, and the primary responsibility is to understand. This is not a time for witchdoctors - it is a time for understanding.

How might we effect a significant change? The no-action solution is to just wait a few generations and hope it gets better. The proactive approach requires data, simulation and experimentation on the computer screen. Marshalling all the facts and figures, and using the best computer models and graphics available to make the complex more easily understood, probably presents our only means to rapidly educate in terms of the estimates of risk, advantages and disadvantages of any one technology. But for those operating under belief systems, I see little hope of them ever understanding anything significant.

Peter Cochrane holds the Collier Chair for the Public Understanding of Science & Technology at the University of Bristol. His home page is:
http://cochrane.org.uk