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Hammer · Buckeye Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 1462

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Has science lost its credibility due to its authoritarian tone and its being co-opted by politics ?

http://www.american.com/archive/2010/july/science-turns-authoritarian

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Colonialgirl · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:18 am Post subject:

Politics and big money grants for research which tends to skew what gets researched and what gets reported and how its reported; Global Warming or Climate Change being a prime example.
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Ale-8(1) · Hawkeye Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 7991 Location: Kentucky

Answer: no!

The rationalizations presented to support the "loss of credibility" sound quite wishful to me, as if the writer is hoping to support a personal opinion with questionable "statistics".

JMHO

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Hammer · Buckeye Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 1462

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Back in the days of yore when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was young...

Scientists as a group were respected and we didn't wonder what their motivation was when they spoke.

We may not have believed everything scientists said, but their motivations were not immediately suspect.

Things are different now.

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Ale-8(1) · Hawkeye Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 7991 Location: Kentucky

"Things are different now."

They certainly are. Seems to be a whole bunch of folks who don't like what science has revealed about everything and are doing everything they can to repudiate it.

Science is an ongoing study of our universe. Things will continue to be redefined as new discoveries are made.

JMHO

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Hammer · Buckeye Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 1462

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boaman88 · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:53 am Post subject:

Because it became a business and the bottom line became more important to some than the facts? How many scientist have given us drugs in the last 50 years that ended up being worse than the disease they were supposed to cure? It may be hard to prove if the faults were just a matter of poor science or an intentional turning of the head in the name speeding up the process for profit. Science has never been perfect. Like any profession you will find those who are honest and some who are not.

Ale-8(1) · Hawkeye Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 7991 Location: Kentucky

" ...an on-going propaganda branch of the radical Left"

I'd have to agree there are those who would like that to happen . . . but I certainly wouldn't classify them as scientists, but as "activists" with personal agendas.

Again, JMHO.

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Slanteyedshootist · Blackhawk Joined: 28 May 2010 Posts: 532 Location: Oregon

The problem is pseudoscientists. They come up with grand and dire "results" from scientific study so they can garner their 15 minutes of fame. They take themselves too seriously. What we need is brilliant men who can do this...

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Leadeye · Bearcat Joined: 12 Aug 2008 Posts: 43 Location: Indiana

Science hasn't changed, if you take a long look at data and how it was collected, the answers become clearer. It's an impatient world these days, and people are gargeling at the fountain of knowledge. Very Happy

Doug.38PR · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:22 pm Post subject:

most "mainstream" scientists (those that get media attention) are just witchdoctors and alchemist that preach nonsense and paganism
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CDFingers · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:19 am Post subject:

I believe the article in the OP is projecting, because it is the critics of science who have lost credibility.

CDFingers
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Hammer · Buckeye Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 1462

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strider · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:27 am Post subject:

Scientists haven't lost any credibility. There have always been deniers.

The deniers used to be motivated by religion. Now it seems they're motivated by corporate money.
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