Elites periodically engage in fake superficial gestures toward reform. Right now, predictably, we’re seeing a few of these fakes.
An editorial in “Nature” magazine shows the fakeness. Science must regain trust by fighting the people who distrust it.
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Make no mistake, the political assaults on science stem largely from those who seek to undermine the truth for political gain, and this dynamic is the major contributor to declining trust in science. Still, science needs to find better ways to protect itself from these attacks. During Trump’s previous term in office, scientists often responded to incidents by fighting back on social media and cable news.
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No. Trump didn’t start this. YOU started it by fighting the people who distrust you. Trust was declining LONG before Trump grabbed onto the trend and manipulated it for power. Trust in ALL institutions has fallen for 40 years because ALL institutions have been solely serving billionaires and Deepstate. Science gets its grants from Deepstate.
Since 1946 science has been developing new ways to bomb people and spy on people. In 2020 when Fauci and Trump turned 500 years of science upside down, you COULD have defended science against Trump. Instead you HELPED Trump to imprison and isolate and strangle the entire country. You placed the full weight of science BEHIND the biggest crime in recent history. So your claim to be fighting Trump rings mighty hollow. The one time you SHOULD have fought Trump you COLLABORATED with him.
You don’t regain trust by continuing to lecture and condescend and spit on the peasants. You don’t regain trust by developing new ways to kill and ruin peasants. You regain trust by RESPECTING and LISTENING to why people distrust you, and then CHANGING YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR in a deep way.
Here he starts to get it:
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Science also makes itself vulnerable to mistrust, and therefore susceptible to cynical attacks, when research misconduct occurs and journals, federal agencies, and universities are slow to correct the record. When principal investigators (PIs) blame their students and postdocs for problems, it creates the perception that PIs care more about protecting their reputations than serving the public interest or supporting their less powerful colleagues. Research shows that the public is more likely to trust scientists when they demonstrate a willingness to change their views on the basis of new data, as of course scientists are supposed to do. This openness can even help counteract negative perceptions that scientists might be biased by their political views. But institutions and many PIs respond to questions about their research by circling the wagons and hiding behind excuses that might protect the institution from liability.
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He still misses the main point with the base assumption that science is the sole way of reaching TRUTH. Science is just a highly specialized way of solving problems. All life solves problems all the time. Science adds math to the solution, which can help in commercial and industrial settings. Science DOES NOT FIND TRUTH.** That’s not the end goal. A usable solution to a physical problem is the goal. A solution may be false by most theoretical indications, but theory is irrelevant. A solution is meant to improve the performance of a machine or a process, and THAT’S ALL.
His conclusion misses all points:
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The attacks are going to keep coming and probably accelerate for the next 4 years. As painful as that will be, it’s up to the scientific community to respond in a way that makes those blows less successful.
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After Trump is gone we will still distrust institutions IF the institutions are still ruining us instead of helping us.
Carver gave the correct answer in his comprehensive advice to scientists.
LOOK ABOUT YOU.
TAKE HOLD OF THE THINGS THAT ARE HERE.
TALK TO THEM.
LET THEM TALK TO YOU.
Things that are here means problems affecting real people right where you live. Carver spent his life trying to improve the work and worth of Southern agriculture, to assist former slaves and tenant farmers. He improved Dixie crops so they were easier to grow and more productive. He developed new commercial uses for those crops so the farmers could gain more profit. His work was IMMEDIATELY AND MATERIALLY HELPFUL TO POOR PEOPLE, not to warriors or tyrants.
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** Footnote for clarity, since this is an unconventional view. The myth that science aims for truth is widely believed and universally taught. In reality there are two forms of science with separate goals. In industrial and agricultural research, people need to find a new or improved way of growing crops or making things, and real science works by endless experiment to make the improvement. In academic science, people need to get tenure or receive grants, so they work on subjects that are interesting to the thesis adviser or granting agency. Some of this work does help to find solutions to real problems, especially outside the US. Most of this work is solely aimed at getting the degree or tenure or grant, especially inside the US.
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