fallenmystic
Tribune
I think one of the most unfortunate, and potentially devastating aspects of the contemporary political atmosphere is the way it turns any kind of topic into a political one, thus making it impossible to debate it on rational grounds.
Things like how to deal with a pandemic or global warming is a legitimate topic for politicians to debate. But contending the factual elements, such as whether or not a vaccine is effective, or how serious is the danger of climate change should never be their job.
Academia is one of the very few institutions we have which is largely free from the sway of money or political power. Of course, companies and governments spend a lot of effort to sponsor researches which will yield favourable conclusions to them. But it’s virtually impossible to silence everyone else to prevent them from cross checking those conclusions and publishing the results.
To think of it, it’s almost incredible how we still have a tradition that allows the most intelligent people around the world to collaborate to discover the secrets of the universe and share their findings for free so that anyone can validate them or use them for their own good, when almost everything else is privatised or regulated by those have money and power.
You can still debate things like whether or not to ban abortion, or what to do with immigrants. But it’s not a job for any politician or their supporters to contest scientific consensus with their “own research” or “common sense.”
Mankind has come a long way since the time when scientists had to prove their findings were not violating some religious tenets or prevalent prejudices of society. There’s no reason to go back to that time.
Things like how to deal with a pandemic or global warming is a legitimate topic for politicians to debate. But contending the factual elements, such as whether or not a vaccine is effective, or how serious is the danger of climate change should never be their job.
Academia is one of the very few institutions we have which is largely free from the sway of money or political power. Of course, companies and governments spend a lot of effort to sponsor researches which will yield favourable conclusions to them. But it’s virtually impossible to silence everyone else to prevent them from cross checking those conclusions and publishing the results.
To think of it, it’s almost incredible how we still have a tradition that allows the most intelligent people around the world to collaborate to discover the secrets of the universe and share their findings for free so that anyone can validate them or use them for their own good, when almost everything else is privatised or regulated by those have money and power.
You can still debate things like whether or not to ban abortion, or what to do with immigrants. But it’s not a job for any politician or their supporters to contest scientific consensus with their “own research” or “common sense.”
Mankind has come a long way since the time when scientists had to prove their findings were not violating some religious tenets or prevalent prejudices of society. There’s no reason to go back to that time.
