>In my opinion, those who urge others to â?? use common senseâ?? are saying things equivalent to â??be more carefulâ?? as a future action in an accident investigation.

I think that it also assumes an "information deficit" model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_deficit_model
to explain behavior. I believe that the scientific communication researchers are finding that that is not a good explanation for public behavior, particularly around chemicals. There is an element of technical explanation that has to include cultural factors as well in order to be effective.

I wonder if one reason that the number of methanol fires is gaining notice is that there are a lot of "cool" demonstrations by amateurs on the web that science teachers feel that they have to emulate or compete with? Personally, I'm not clear that fires and explosions are the best way to explain chemistry, but I know that it is a popular approach with some educators.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart
rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**me.com

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