Loss of the Culture of Science
Copyright 2022 Robert Clark
One of the oddest aspects of this pandemic is that scientists seem to have forgotten the idea that the minority views need to be heard as well as the majority.
The general public knows about Galileo and knows sometimes the minority view turns out to be the correct one. But the public seems to have forgotten that this principle still can apply now. So the public seems to have gotten the idea that since the majority of scientists have one view on the pandemic, that means that the majority view MUST be right.
OK, so the general public has this mindset. But what’s truly astonishing is most scientists think this also! It’s absolutely unfathomable that most scientists actually do seem to be carrying the mindset that the majority view on the pandemic MUST be correct! I absolutely can not understand it.
Even for scientists in other fields, they well understand that there are debates and disagreements in their fields and just because most scientists subscribe to one view that’s no guarantee that’s actually the correct one. But quite astonishingly they don’t seem to get the same could be true in regards to this pandemic. And not only do they accept the idea the majority MUST be correct on the pandemic, they even support the idea of preventing debate on the pandemic, and support the idea alternative views SHOULD be suppressed!
So the question is WHY? I don’t know. It’s so utterly unfathomable. I wouldn’t even rule out Malone’s mass psychosis idea, even though that still leaves the question of WHY this mass psychosis?
The video below might give an explanation. I like that the video includes this great concept: “Groupthink: a drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses dissent and appraisal of alternatives.”
The Emperor's New Clothes and Independent Thought.
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
Would you speak up if you saw something completely ridiculous? Or would you keep your doubts to yourself?
Democracies need their truth-tellers and free societies require independent thinkers able to question convention, resist conformity, and reach their own conclusions. This video explains why speech suppression can cause problems ranging from the laughable to the downright dangerous.
By the way the group Foundation for Individual Rights in Education that prepared the video promotes free speech on campuses. Still, I wonder how far they are dedicated to the idea of free speech. Would they endorse free discussion of alternative views on the pandemic?
Robert Clark