Has anyone else taken note of the "Reference Frame" editorial in Physics
Today? By Philip Anderson? WHY DO THEY LEAVE PHYSICS?
He quotes a recent letter from one of his students who was bailing out of
physics:
There are several reasons for wanting to leave academia, not the least
being the desire for a work envirnment which rewards those who take
appropriate risks. The problems I have been attracted to are motivated
by real world data where there is no existing theoretical model.
Involvement in such projects require a desire for new challenges, and
appetite for risk, and the ability to be innovative yet humble in the
face of data.
(Some ellipses deleted, see original in PT 9/99 for the less-readable
version.)
Anderson goes on to say:
My own diagnosis is pretty much identical to the ones implied in the
letter [above]. The members of our profession - and particularly those
who have responsibility for hiring and for funding research - are
infected with "Horganism", the belief that the end of science (or at
least of our science) is at hand and that all that is left to do is to
grub away at Kuhnian "normal science" following the accepted paradigms.
They believe that there are no mre scientific revolutions possible, and
that we are now in pursuit of nothing but the next decimal place...
All right! "Horganism!" Long have I searched for a single term that
lables the sickness in science. "Pathological Skepticism" is a mouthful.
"Scientism" isn't a widely-known word. "Arrogance" makes me look like a
namecaller.
"Horganism"
I wonder if Dr. Anderson coined it?
It's the perfect ironic comeuppance for John Horgan: to be forever after
associated with the suppression of novelty in science. If we all begin to
use "Horganism" as a lable, then in centuries hence, we and all our
accomplishments will be dust, yet those future scientists will still reap
the benefits of 1999 by yet retaining the ability to label and therefore
excise all "Horganism" from their souls.