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Re: What makes science powerful?



"If society permits it, one can do science, otherwise one cannot, except
with great difficulty."

Perhaps Brian did not hear Pervez Hoodbhoy's lecture on Science in
Pakistan at a recent (2001) AAAS meeting in San Francisco. ("When
Science Teaching Becomes a Subversive Activity -- To the Islamic
orthodoxy science is still dangerous" is the title in Z Magazine,
October 2001, of the article taken from that talk.) The below is a more
detailed presentation of a part of his lecture. I couldn't find the
article in either Z Net or Z Mag., electronically, so squeaky people
will receive a xerographically copy of the article (3 pp.).

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2000-09/14hoodbhoy.htm

Not incidentally, Hoodbhoy is Prof. of nuclear and high-energy physics
at Quaid-e-Azam U., Islamabad


bc who didn't attend either, but subscribes to Z Mag. and Z Net

p.s. His article directly addresses this thread.


Brian Whatcott wrote:

At 04:42 PM 5/8/2003 +0200, Pentcho, you wrote:
"Strickert, Rick" wrote:

Richard Feynman told a national science teachers convention in 1966:

/snip/ You teachers who are really teaching children at the
bottom of the heap can maybe doubt the experts once in a while.
Learn from science that you must doubt the experts. As a matter
of fact, I can also define science another way: Science is the
belief in the ignorance of experts." /snip/

By following this advice, a scientist may never publish, lose his/her
job and even die.

Pentcho

Interesting observation. The same could be said of novelists, poets
and newspaper writers. Which leads one to suppose that the conduct
of science, like other intellectual expressions, has a cultural context.
If society permits it, one can do science, otherwise one cannot,
except with great difficulty.

We are an interesting example in this respect: the most successful
theory of the design of animals and plants and its change over many
ages is barely permitted in some regions.

The investigation of the definition of biological function at the
cellular level is another research topic that is drawing searching
government attention and selective prohibition.

A person who speaks on conservation issues (about baiting the margins of
National Parks, thereby harvesting selected parts of trophy animals
lured there, whose carcasses attract endangered species
of bears into confrontations, for example...) can certainly find
themself without a job after 30 years of service.

People who argue against the industrial exploitation of pristine
national parkland in remote areas, may well find themselves
excoriated.

One could go on. There are punishments for some science related
activities. The penalties for actually *teaching* unwise topics in
science are so evident, I will not mention examples.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK