And I entirely agree with asdf's assertion regarding the relative integrity between the "climate science" crowd and the climate change denier crowd. The climate change deniers do tend to show similarities to the "creation science" crowd. This is the basis for my concern about the lawsuit cited above where assertion of a "belief" in the imminent danger from climate change is defended as a "philosophy of life". Let us hope that we don't get to the point of having parity in nutcase affiliation. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
WTF? It is the exact opposite! I strongly believe in scientific inquiry (definition of which remains to be done)! What I am suggesting is that what is done in some "places of science" as very little to do with openness, enlightenment, sound reasoning and decent morality.
The problem is that in many research centres "scientific inquiry" become just a side.
To make it very clear: I am a strong believer in science. The current scientific environment (high competition, need to maximize one's impact at any cost) is anathema for good science. The cultural harm to the scientific community is done and it will take some time to reverse, if at all.
If you want to do good science, go to your garage. Avoid most universities and such. That is the drama. That is what stands to be corrected.
And blindly believing in whatever is done at universities (the basis of religious mentality is also blind faith), is not helping to starting cleaning up the mess.
Politics is an inescapable fact of life in any organisation with more than a couple of handfuls of people and a lifetime of more than a few days. I see no serious evidence that it's any worse in physics than in other communities of similar size.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
From what I hear Astrophysics is pretty bad. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
My impression is that in Copenhagen the experimental high-energy particle people hold the dubious distinction of being the most nepotistic department. And have held that trophy for at least a generation and a half by now.
Fortunately, it's not like particle physics is very important in the greater scheme of things.
WTF? It is the exact opposite! I strongly believe in scientific inquiry (definition of which remains to be done)!
