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Posted by: Gene Man
Dec 07, 09:54 PM
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The current scandalous state of science traces to World War II and the fact that science and technology significantly helped win the war. In the long Cold War that followed, the 'science race' between the US and the USSR fed tax dollars without end into the science machine, and the consequent rise in power and prestige of the top scientists worked as always to absolutely corrupt the system. Probably, at small colleges and small companies there exist classically 'pure' scientists, but at the major league universities the game has been lost. This is of course reflected in all of the professional journals. Today, for political reasons, the field of "climate science" is probably the most corrupt, because the stakes are so high. After all, the leftist goal of world domination can actually be rationally 'justified' if we truly need to drastically change our way of life to avoid climate catastrophe.
Other fields are not immune from this sickness, but since the stakes are lower the scale is smaller. In physics the reigning theories have been bankrupt for almost half a century, but once you have two generations of physicists that subscribe to these theories, then they are cast in concrete. No one who has worked to achieve a significant place in the system is willing to rock the boat.
Gigantic institutions that have been taken over by unions to provide a lifetime job (tenure or govt worker) followed by a handsome pension automatically become corrupt. As a rule no one will make decisions (see 'Major Hassan') for fear of rocking the (politically correct) boat. Only a crisis will change anything and then only as long as required to stop the boat from rocking.
From the perspective of one who spent eleven years working for the government and four decades as an independent small businessman/scientist, it seems almost hopeless. The "hive mind" that is required to spend one's life in a large institution is currently on display in "Climategate" but it is everywhere.
As one commenter on another thread expressed it: "Well, I can't trust the government. I can't trust the media. I can't trust Wall street and now I can't trust the scientific community. Thank God there is still professional wrestling."
It may not be hopeless, but it sure is discouraging.
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