Re: Bjorn Lomborg: A Chipper Environmentalist (The New York Times,

[Bemmzim]

In a message dated 8/8/01 3:50:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
writes:

<< 
 When money makes the world go around, is anyone free to think for
 themselves? (And face it, corporations are richer than academic
 institutions, Greenpeace or even a lot of governments if you consider how 
 little governments are willing to spend on science.)
  >>
But science does work in the face of enormous economic pressure. Think 
tobacco. It has taken a while but the scientific evidence mounted over time 
and became inescapable. Yes scientists live in the real world, they have 
personal ambition and they have material desires. But the mechanism of 
science works over time to weed out the false and there are ethical codes 
that one must follow to continue to work in a field. In short science is no 
different then any other endeavor. Money and power are important but they are 
never held exclusively in one place and do not remain concentrated for too 
long.  In order to judge the work don't pre-judge the scientist based on the 
outcome of her/his work. There are independent means for determing when 
someone has been bought (by big corporations, govenrment, the desire to bring 
down the bad boys, the desire for an academic career etc).