[FRIAM] Science Commits Suicide

[Gary Schiltz]

I don't plan to spend much time evaluating Charlton's claims, but a cursory
Google search shows the man himself to be a controversial figure. I only
read the "argument of this book in a single paragraph" paragraph from the
paper, and its tone was sufficiently negative to make me not want to read
further. No doubt his claims apply to some researchers, and to much of the
funding structure for science, but I can't imagine that it applies across
the board.

On Sat, May 30, 2020 at 10:48 AM Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net> wrote:

> One of your comments for the book, the one in the chapter how ideologies
> turn into bureaucracies that asks if science can be seen as a bureaucracy
> as well, inspired me to look for books in that direction and I found a nice
> book from Bruce G. Charlton named "Not even trying: the corruption of real
> science"
>
> http://corruption-of-science.blogspot.com/2013/07/not-even-trying-corruption-of-real.html
>
> He argues that science has turned in many places into a giant bureaucracy
> that produces a lot of papers that contain fake content. People that
> managed to make a career in this bureaucracy would not be interested in
> finding out the truth anymore. Interesting to read IMO.
>
> -J.
>
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Prof David West <profwest at fastmail.fm>
> Date: 5/29/20 17:33 (GMT+01:00)
> To: friam at redfish.com
> Subject: [FRIAM] Science Commits Suicide (yes, another trolling headline)
>
> idle thoughts from overlapping reading experience the past two days.
>
> The cop kneeling on George's neck had 18 prior complaints for excessive
> force and/or violations of department policy and remained in good
> standing.  Lots of writing about similar situations in police departments
> around the country including Albuquerque and the shooting of the homeless
> man a few years back.
>
> Police departments lose credibility because they will not police
> themselves. They will not police themselves because they have an
> institutional culture that centers on "Us versus Them" and We are the Good
> Guys, They are the bad guys. This quickly becomes We can do no wrong. Any
> apparent error by one of ours must be excused and rationalized. We cannot
> admit even the smallest or slightest error.
>
> Science suffers from a similar problem. Making assertions as if they were
> unalloyed accurate and True Facts when they know that the models, the
> assumptions, the data (lack of) generate more ambiguity and conclude little
> more than probabilities. And they constantly change. But Science remains
> unable to admit to error or ambiguity — generating a facade that is just as
> false as the "We are always in the right" facade of police departments.
>
> Politicians amplify the problem when they assert, "We will do what "The
> Science" tells us" as if "The Science" is clear, absolute, and inerrant.
>
> Do not be surprised when "the people" recognize the reality behind the
> facade and, making their own error, dismiss, devalue, or discard Science.
>
> davew
>
>
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