Here is a scientific fact, the earth’s orbital eccentricity e is approximately 0.01671 and like any other scientific fact is in no way affected by Harvard changing its policies.
But knowledge of scientific facts are only as good as the standards we set in gaining that knowledge. If the standard if reduced to accommodate politically correct ideology then we are dumbing ourselves down. Those standards are set by universities like Harvard.
The author makes it very clear to differentiate between scientists and science.
Yes scientists being human can also be anti-intellectual along with being racists, sexist, wokeist or any other type of “ist” but scientific facts are based on empirical evidence.
Science is greater than the individual.
Yes I agree that its the scientist that is being anti-intellectual. But I think what is happening in post modernist society is more than just subjective influences on science. Its more about epistemology, how we can know what is a fact in this world. People are questioning the science method is the only way to know facts about the world.
So though science can reveal objective facts about the world but in the context of an all inclusive view of reality (complete theory) people claim they are not the only facts or truth about the world. Now scientific facts are being measured against alternative ways to know reality such as Indigenous knowledge or individual and group truths about reality and now the science is disputed and often giving way to these alternative truths or facts about the world.
In other words its not about disputing scientific facts but disputing that scientific facts are the true facts that constitutes reality. We can see this happening with climate change, gender and transgender ideology, genetics, biology and even physics. Primarily I think about the Hard problem of integrating the subject and observer into the equation. What role and influence they have on the world.
Are you trying to insert your pet subject of religion playing a role in science?
If you think inclusiveness is a dumbing down of science which it isn’t as only a small percentage of postgraduates end up as post doctorate researchers impacting directly on science, the inclusion of religion is a complete dumbing down as God is unfalsifiable in science.
No actually just as I tried to explain above its not about religion though I think post modernist deconstructive ideologies are like religious belief in that they impose beliefs and ideological assumptions about the world as the 'Truth' in how we should order society. For example the idea that there is no fixed nature and we can reconstruct nature in accordance with our ideals of how society or the world for that matter should be ordered. Like how its considered wrong to refer to there being 2 sexes and genders (male and female). That use to be a scientific fact.
This is a thread about anti-intellectualism where the victims according to anti-intellectuals are not some specific marginalized oppressed people but the great unwashed who are being lied to.
I think these ideologies have permeated into our Institutions and are influencing policies which are dumbing us down or as you say are promoting lies because they want to be seen as politically correct. Its no coincident that those who are complaining about the lies of Western Science are mostly the same identity groups or those supporting the same ideologies.
This is part of post modernism where all the grand narratives including scientific fact is being undermined by alternative ways of knowing which is fueled by the cynicism of people about science itself being the true arbiter of truth.
The ICR provided a “reason” for the lie; another common reason for both COVID and anthropogenic climate change denial is the conspiratorial nonsense of scientists working in cahoots with governments to establish total control over their populations.
This the level of absurdity anti-intellectualism amongst the scientifically illiterate can reach.
But its a real movement. I'm not saying I agree but these ideologies seem to have weight. They do creep into government and effect policy. They do shut down the facts and truths, close down free speech, spread fake news, emotionally blackmail, distort and misrepresent the facts/truth and it works. Its undermining long held traditions and truths.
The end result is people generally are losing their faith in science. There's a high % of junk science presented in peer review which shows the level we have been reduced to. In some ways people are becoming more skeptical of scientists than salesmen.
