Do you trust the scientific establishment?

Ar Scion

Ar Scion

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Oct 27, 2009
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I was reading an article recently about a white knight out to save people from the biggest plague to hit the media: balance in journalism. His name is Simon Singh.

Simon Singh implied that we must trust scientists and only scientists for our information.

This makes sense on its face.

But is science trustworthy?

I don't mean scientific principles and the scientific process.

I mean the institutions, whose research is funded by interest groups. I mean scientists whose reputations, careers, wealth and funding is dependent, directly or indirectly on a particular group or agenda. I mean scientific establishments that tend to resemble a political arena rather than a scientific organization.

Is science trustworthy?
 


You can't buy off everyone. In politics you only need a majority, but in science, you only need 1 to prove 1000 wrong.

Not a perfect system, but real scientists value their reputation more than getting paid; if their project gets killed because the results were 'undesirable', some of them will continue to find other sources of funding that respect their work.

The real problem is that to understand exactly what the findings mean, you will usually have to do months or years of reading to get to the point where you can understand what is being presented. Otherwise, you will have to rely on your trustworthy media outlets to give you the 2-minute version.
 
jryan21 said:
Not a perfect system, but real scientists value their reputation more than getting paid;
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Go work in a research lab for a while and you'll soon change your opinion. Science is dirty just like everything else. And it's not really about money. At least not directly.

It works like this: work for X amount of time on project. Gather results and evaluate (where x could be MANY years). After all this time if the results prove inconclusive, many times they get fudged or skewed to support a hypothesis or desired outcome. A paper gets written and the researcher gains recognition. The institution he/she works for gets more funding to continue research.

So yes, in valuing their reputation, scientists allow themselves to be corrupted in order to preserve that reputation (oxymoron I know).
 
I recommend that you read a book called "The Secret History of the War on Cancer". It shows how scientists can be bought off, and how industrial interests create confusion in the public's mind about certain topics (think smoking, global warming). 'Science' is a keyword that overrides people's common sense, as megatabbers said, science is just as dirty as every other activity - not something special or magical.
 
nope..you can't trust scientist that are on the government payrole....I wille xplain more when I am not drunk............................................
 
I'm odd about different theories and facts. It's like a god damn game of Janga, if one fact proves false then it crashes down - theory is usually proven off other theory. My special way of thinking is that if what I believe makes me happy, I'll believe it, I'm athiest so don't take that as a Christian anecdote.
 
With all the BS going on, I'm surprised we have absolutely no oversight into the issue.
 
There are many instances of science bending over to the will of the government "corporation's" business partners.

Quick example... fluorosilicic acid (renamed fluoride) being sold to local governments to 'enrich the public water supply' in an effort to help prevent tooth decay...backed of course, by the American Dental Association "scientists" decades ago. (bought and paid for by chemical companies or fired if they 'disagreed' with the research)
Fluorosilicic acid is a toxic waste by-product that comes from chemical companies. If they couldn't sell it, they would have to pay out the ass to get it properly disposed of in a toxic waste land fill.
This chemical has been proven to cause a all kinds of medical and mental problems.
I just took a look at my kids "watermelon flavor" toothpaste label (contains sodium fluoride). It says "use a pea sized amount" ... it also says " If more than amount used is swallowed, get medical help right away or contact a poison control center." WTF

popeye said:
nope..you can't trust scientist that are on the government payrole....I wille xplain more when I am not drunk............................................
Click to expand...

I'm hoping your statement applies to both Dem and Rep governments (same shit, different pile)
 
Evidence, reproducibility, and predictability is what matters. Anecdotes, professional/reliable testimony, and personal experience (I personally believe personal experience can be the most powerful of all, it's simply impossible to back up) are not without merit, but if someone can't provide the first three things, you shouldn't take something as true.
 
Step 1: get PhD
Step 2: conduct research
Step 3: skew findings in favor of GMO, fluoride & gardasil
Step 4: profit
 
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