The Corruption of Science

The Corruption of Science:



"The science priesthood & peer-review against heresy

Today, people have an unshakable faith in science.  Newspaper articles often start with, “Scientists say...,” without ever actually naming the “scientists” as if the word is coming down from on high through the scientific priesthood.  When involved in a debate, people often resort to, “The science says...,” or “What does the science say?” to support their argument. 



Science, it seems, is the Ultimate Authority.  People believe that science can give us truth.  We are told that we cannot trust ourselves, we must bow to the higher wisdom of science: [2] “We need to know that instinct is no substitute for the neutral evaluation of a hypothesis.”  Otherwise intelligent people say this as if such things as absolute truth and “neutral evaluation” actually exist.



Somehow we have come to a place where scientific theories and data are completely ignored unless they have been published in a peer-reviewed, scientific journal.  As if getting a handful of other scientific priests to agree somehow grants holiness to the idea [2]: “...a zealous truth-seeker’s work upon hearing a new theory should be to research legitimate peer-reviewed journals to see if the theory is true.”  It can then be used to beat people over the head, to sue people in a court of law and to persuade governments to enact or redact laws and rules. 



 It is worth mentioning here that the first paper on the laser (known at that time as an optical maser) was rejected by the editor of Physical Review Letters because it was [3] “just another maser paper.” It’s difficult to get an idea published that goes against the current dogma.

The system of scientific publication has been in place for a few hundred years. 



It makes it impossible for anyone who is not a member of the scientific priesthood to be heard.  It also makes it nearly impossible for even a member of the priesthood to be heard if her ideas are considered scientific heresy. "