I guarantee that we are not seeing the twilight of the scientific age, but there will need to be some people getting their a55es kicked.
On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Danny Ross Lunsford <antimatte...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > >> Anyone who has a real love for thinking and has been through an academic >> science program, particularly in the hard sciences, will remember many >> moments of utter disgust, because more often than not, the main purpose for >> doing science - a love for knowledge and the excitement of being on the >> frontier - is usually the last thing on the agenda. >> > > I agree this is widespread. I think it more common nowadays than in the > past because scientists are better paid than they used to be. Around 1900 > it was said you should not become a professor or a doctor unless you first > marry money. > > Another dynamic works with people who sincerely love knowledge and > science. It was described by Tolstoy, and quoted in "Fire from Ice:" > > "I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the > greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious > truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of > conclusions they reached perhaps with great difficulty, conclusions which > they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly > taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the > fabric of their lives." > > > >> PS - a good read - "The Twilight of the Scientific Era" by Martin >> Lopez-Corredoira. >> > > You mean, "The Twilight of the Scientific Age" > > > http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Scientific-Mart%C3%ADn-L%C3%B3pez-Corredoira/dp/1612336345/ > > - Jed > >
