Science Forums 2

[TheBigDog]

Originally Posted by REASON

Charges of elitism in the scientific community, I tend to think, are made by those who find their beliefs rejected by the science. It would seem odd for someone who's beliefs are supported by science to then turn around and accuse the science of being elitist.

Unless that scientist is a self proclaimed elitist. (where has Uncle Al gone?)

The problem is that everyone follows scientific method to a point; they have a hypothesis and they then go about finding support for it. The issue comes down to each person's ability to accept that their hypothesis is wrong. There are fantastic scientific minds who are also people of faith. There are areas of science where they are the leading thinkers and researchers, and have played enormous historical significance. Yet their faith always drove them to include God's existence in their hypothesis of the universe. Was Newton closed minded?

Take the issue of Global Warming. There is strong correlating evidence of a link between carbon emissions and global temperature. But there is no certainty that the global temperature today would be any different if the industrial revolution had never happened, and that no other natural phenomena had occurred. Some people bind their judgment to the correlation and dismiss the intelligence of anyone who disagrees. Others bind their judgment to the gaps in conclusiveness of the supporting evidence and express their doubts about the causes of Global Warming.

In all things there are personal agendas, even in the hearts of scientists. An environmental scientist who happens to work for an oil company is often dismissed as being biased. But an environmental scientist who states that they chose that career because they were outraged by the depletion of the rain forest and works for a non-profit organization is considered the guardian of objective thought.

There is bullshit in both directions and one must use their own judgment in weighing the presented evidence.

In the end my opinion of what is factual does not change the laws of nature or the powers of an almighty God. The truth is the common thread in all things observed and measured. We all have an internal agenda, a vision of the universe that pleases us and we look for support of that in our observations and in our reasoned sorting of what we observe. Our emotional attachment to a pleasing hypothesis, or to being right, or to not being wrong, prevents us from letting go in the face overwhelming contradiction. The most poetic of dreamers and the coldest of scientific minds are subject to that same particular human flaw.

Bill