When Science Meets Society
to the tune of "When I Fight Authority" by John Mellencamp

lyrics by JD Dougherty, Haverford College, Fall 2008


When science meets society,
 society always wins,
When science meets society,
 society always wins,
Science has the facts,
 still the politician grins,
When science meets society,
 society always wins.

Board of Education, Kansas (now Texas?) USA,
Science was surprised by what they had to say,
Intelligent design describes our history,
Evolution is nice but it's just a bedtime story.

Dasgupta-Maskin Domination Theory,
Best for voting is true majority,
Everybody knows that everything will stay the same,
Politicians need a system they can game.

When science meets society,
 society always wins,
When science meets society,
 society always wins,
Science has the stats
 that the politician spins,
When science meets society,
 society always wins.

Board of Elections, Tallahassee FLA,
Butterfly ballots hurt on Election Day,
"Computers to the rescue" everybody says,
But paperless voting is just a different mess.

Science made the case for global warming,
Best for stocks to just ignore the warnings,
Government people hate when there's bad weather,
Redacting science makes them all feel better.

When science meets society,
 society always wins,
When science meets society,
 society always wins,
Science has the math,
 still the politician sins,
When science meets society,
 society always wins.