James Bowery <[email protected]> wrote:
> The reason this is far worse than Kuhn indicates is that it is entirely > conceivable that such financial dependence could enslave generation after > generation of "scientists". > I don't know about generations. Peter Hagelstein told me the problem has gotten much worse in the last 10 years or so. He says much of the problem is caused by micromanagement from Washington. Much of that problem, in turn, is caused by misplaced fear that scientists are committing fraud. Restrictive laws and excessively tight oversight has been put in place. This is partly caused by conservative opposition to scientific conclusion such as global warming. Since the 1970s, conservatives have become sharply critical of many aspects of science, especially evolution and global warming. Before that they were as supportive as liberals were. It would have been inconceivable for someone like Richard Nixon to oppose the teaching of evolution, whereas every major Republican candidate in the last two elections has paid lip service to creationism. See: Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere A Study of Public Trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010 http://asr.sagepub.com/content/77/2/167.full Hagelstein also cited corrupt activities among leading academic decision makers, such as leading scientists who do peer review, recommend against publication, and then steal the ideas they blocked from publication. Tom Passell described leading scientists who publicly lashed out against cold fusion in 1989 and 1990 while secretly applying for research grants from EPRI to study it. I'm sure that sort of thing is a problem but it always has been. Backstabbing, betrayal, plagiarism, stealing credit and so on have been common in academic science since it began in the 17th century. In my opinion, generally speaking, and compared to people in other walks of life with similar jobs such as programmers and engineers, I think academic scientists are bunch of disreputable, unethical scheming lowlifes. I am serious. They have a public reputation for being saintly, other-worldly people with frizzy hair halos like Einstein. They do not deserve it. Inventors such as Edison and Rossi are in it for the money, and they make no bones about it. That is refreshing. You know where you stand with them. If you invest in them keep a tight grip on your shares. - Jed
