The abuse of science

At a recent conference in New Zealand people used the idea that science is a culturally bound set of prejudices; ‘science’ is just a point of view. There are a number of complex issues behind the idea of culturally bound science.

• What exactly is the relationship between knowledge and the object of that knowledge?
• What exactly is happening when we perceive? 
• What exactly is the structure of ‘science’ as a subset of all knowledge, and how do we define ‘science’ relative to all other knowledge?

A second major consideration is the one empirical event exploring these issues. In 1996 Professor Alan Sokal (then Professor of Theoretical physics at NYU) presented a paper to a prestigious social science ‘cultural’ journal where he argued the link between consciousness and quantum variability. On being published Sokal dismissed his own paper as a hoax suggesting the editors were self-serving publishing ideas they wanted to believe. There was an immediate furor.

Karl Popper established that to disprove the proposition all swans are white one only needs to find a single black swan. Unfortunately a significant section of academics choose to ignore this Popperian proposition. The Sokal result was sweep away in a flood of political posturing. Now a single event in issues this complex is never definitive. But, accepting Popper, a single event is enough to cause one to question.

An overall balance of thinking on science today is that there is an objective world we perceive through multiple points of view (including cultural viewpoints). By rigorously combining points of view we ‘see’ more clearly the objective world (what I call the ‘five blind people and the elephant’ problem).

Now, for people at some local conference to argue against ‘western’ science is silly enough, but to do so without reference to the complexity that lies behind the idea is a complete lack of intellectual integrity that must be condemned.

Unfortunately this pseudo science is done most by groups seeking to serve themselves, using it to support what is usually a weak case in the first place.

We need dismiss this shallow self-serving intellectual nonsense. Then get on with the real task of carving our way in a world that does not give a toss, and building the wealth and hence health of all citizens in our society.