Today, David Baltimore (Nobel Laureate and President of Cal Tech) has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal complaining that science funding and respect are not being supported by government as they should be.
But America cannot simply assume its lead in science will continue. In recent years the science community has been starved of the resources it needs. Young, new, energetic scientists are the seed corn of nearly all new scientific development. However, our schools, laboratories and granting agencies all, in one way or another, discourage launching a career in the sciences. There are few grants to live on; and both schools and laboratories have long since lost the sense of joy we remember from our younger days. Science can be exciting and attractive. But convincing bright students to become scientists requires a lot more than we are now providing.
One reason might be this sort of thing in which Wikipedia, a popular source of internet information, is being systematically edited to exclude any evidence of global warming skepticism. The purpose is to enforce the conceit that there is a “scientist consensus” that anthropogenic global warming is an established fact. There is no room for doubt, even among serious climate scientists. Grants are being directed to those willing to toe the line and those who might question the premise are “starved of grants”, much as Dr. Baltimore complains.
Tags: global warming, politics, science, wikipedia
The problem here, Dr. K., is that the majority of the “Big Name” scientists, like Dr. Baltimore, are part of the “establishment.”
I have never heard of a big name person giving up a grant so that new investigators would have a shot.
More and more, grant agencies want to give cash to projects that look like “good prospects.” That cannot help but lead to “safe” or expected choices. This leads to politics, inexorably.
Have you looked up Pournelle’s “Iron Law of Bureaucracy”?
“Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.”
From Pournelle’s website.
It explains a great deal about modern life.
The Macarthur “Genius” grants used to promote “high risk” research. But now, they pretty much reward the expected successful people. Safe risks.
Pros and cons exist to this, of course. But in doing so, we may miss important things. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee it.
You’re right but the worst abuses right now are in the global warming field. Common sense seems to be breaking out but we are at risk of a huge public policy mistake with economic penalties for relatively innocent activity.
Oh, I agree completely, Dr. K. I well remember how every single grant that we wrote about gene regulation, even in bacteria, had to be related somehow to cancer research. I understand the sentiment, but it isn’t honest.
The AGW stuff is much, much worse. Hanson is a liar, straight up. And it is ALL politics. Every bit of it.
I just read how China is now the top carbon dioxide producer in the world. Kyoto will fix that, yes?
I think it all harks back to two problems: first is human-centric thinking, that we are all that important, and what we do (good or bad) can matter enormously. Hubris. On top of it is the “less is more” mentality we have pushed in schools for thirty years.
Mind you, we can do terrible things to the environment. We can also clean up our messes. I was raised in LA, so I know something about this. The simplest solution is best: have the board of directors of a polluting company drink from downstream of their plant. They will quickly get sparkling clean water, and still make a profit. That was a bit of a metaphor, but it still holds.
Oh well. Fortunately, I don’t run the zoo!
I am convinced that the left wingers are way overestimating our influence on the planet as a sort of god-delusion. We are all powerful. I guess that is the same thing you were referring to as human-centric thinking.