The abuse of science

[twawki]

That the statistical foundations on which the hockey stick was built upon was a swamp of misrepresentation, deceit and malfeasance.

bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2008/8/11/caspar-and-the-jesus-paper.html

[kiwistonewall]

Science is knowledge. It is an abstract concept like Justice, or Mercy.

What is popularly called "Science" is the output of politically controlled Universities & Government controlled organizations.

Edit: Not disagreeing. Science has been hijacked. But knowledge is not singular but diverse. It resides in us all. Established positions are often wrong: in two ways, either completely off track with a totally wrong theory (e.g. phlogiston, luminiferous aether) or merely an approximation (Newtonian physics, the Bohr atom).

I totally agree that "Science" has been abused and perverted for political gain or personal reward.

One philosophical point (sorry) is that there is no truly objective "fact". The very data itself will only be acceptable within the framework of the observer. What the observer "sees" is coloured by his theoretical position. The AGW believer is locked into a certain way of viewing the facts. They are not all deliberately abusing "Science". They truly live and breathe in a different view of the World!

The few truly perverted individuals are leading many who are quite genuine, and are true Scientists in their own narrow specialty. Since they accept without question the ruling paradigm, and they know that their own work is genuine, they live happily on the "Dark Side" ;D

[twawki]

True but scientific method as brought by Francis Bacon is under assault

We thought at least there were facts but now the global warming revisionists are at work against them also

[pacman]

Excellent post twawki.

[xian]

I am reminded of the advice from a very wise President who in is departing address said:

"The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."

Dwight D. Eisenhower

[twawki]

Science curriculum 'an insult'

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25218607-2702,00.html

"PRIMARY school principals have condemned the national science curriculum for failing to focus on scientific knowledge and skills, describing its low expectations of primary teachers and students as insulting.

In a scathing submission to the National Curriculum Board, the Australian Primary Principals Association says the science curriculum is overly concerned with teaching methods and too little with scientific content. "

[twawki]

Science the new idealogical weapon

"Science operates on the basis of very particular values which often have no place in the average ideology. Science requires that we follow facts and experiments wherever they lead, even if they lead us to abandon long-held assumptions and beliefs. Most ideologies, on the other hand, value holding on to beliefs and assumptions in the face of any and all challenges. This is true of nationalist ideologies, political ideologies, and especially religious ideologies.

Science cannot be twisted to the service of nationalist, political, or religious ideologies without undermining the ability to science to do what it does best, which is provide a better understanding of the world around us. The world cares nothing for our ideologies. Our ability to decipher it cannot be linked to nationalists aspirations. Our ability to learn from it cannot be limited by religious doctrines.

As a human endeavor, science will inevitably be plagued with problems like fraud, but science is also set up to discover and correct such problems. Remaining independent of political and religious ideologies is part of what the self-correcting process in science requires. Those who seek to link science to their personal ideologies are, therefore, enemies of science, truth, and reality. "

atheism.about.com/b/2005/12/27/science-vs-ideology-why-manipulating-science-for-ideology-doesnt-work.htm