Wei_Dai:

How about using an example from the past? A controversy that was ideologically charged at some point, but no longer inflames passions in the present?

Trouble is, the present system that produces reputable and accredited science and scholarship is a rather novel creation. Things worked very differently as recently as two or three generations ago, and I believe that an accurate general model for assessing its soundness on various issues necessarily has to incorporate judgments about some contemporary polarized and charged topics, which have no historical precedent that would be safely remote from present-day controversies. As Constant wrote in another reply to your above comment, modern science is so deeply intertwined with the modern system of government that it's impossible to accurately analyze one without asking any questions about the other.

And to emphasize this important point again, I believe that coming up with such a model is a matter of supreme importance to anyone who wants to have correct views on almost any topic outside of one's own narrow areas of expertise. Our society is historically unique in that we have these vast institutions whose mission is to produce and publish accurate insight on all imaginable topics, and for anyone intellectually curious, the skill of assessing the quality of their output is as important as recognizing edible from poisonous fruit for a forager.

I would just caution that we're probably biased to over-estimate the net benefit of bringing up political implications since many of us feel strongly motivated to spread our favorite political ideas.

That is surely a valid concern, and I probably display this bias myself at least occasionally. Like most biases, however, it also has its mirror image, i.e. the bias to avoid questions for fear of stirring up controversy, which one should also watch for.

This is not only because excessive caution means avoiding topics that would in fact be worth pursuing, but also because of a more subtle problem. Namely, the set of all questions relevant for a topic may include some safe and innocent ones alongside other more polarizing and charged ones. Deciding to include only the former into one's assessment and ignoring the latter for fear of controversy may in fact fatally bias one's final conclusions. I have seen instances of posts and articles on LW that, in my opinion, suffer from this exact problem.