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not intended as an essay - I really think this is true
The '''politics of science''' is distinguished from [[science]] itself, by virtue of the emphasis on the numbers of scientists or scientific bodies which favor a particular scientific theory, rather than whether the theory can be shown to be consistent with the facts.
The history of science is replete with examples in which the scientific establishment resisted new theories which turned out decades later to be true.
There have also been cases, notabably the racist theory of [[Eugenics]], in which a novel theory rapidly became the darling of the mainstream - without ever having any facts in its support.
This political prejudice takes both a conservative and radical form, in the sense of clinging to outmoded ideas despite the appearance of better ones, as well as adopting new ideas despite lack of proof.
The result is often politicized science (or "[[junk science]]") being used in support of public policy. Eugenics was used to support forced sterilization of "defectives", as well as prolonged race segregation and discrimination. Global warming theories are being used to promote a massive redistribution of wealth and/or a severe rationing of energy consumption (see [[Kyoto Protocol]]).
The bottom line, for a scientific theory, is of course not whether it advances anyone's agenda but whether it is true (see [[scientific method]]).
The history of science is replete with examples in which the scientific establishment resisted new theories which turned out decades later to be true.
There have also been cases, notabably the racist theory of [[Eugenics]], in which a novel theory rapidly became the darling of the mainstream - without ever having any facts in its support.
This political prejudice takes both a conservative and radical form, in the sense of clinging to outmoded ideas despite the appearance of better ones, as well as adopting new ideas despite lack of proof.
The result is often politicized science (or "[[junk science]]") being used in support of public policy. Eugenics was used to support forced sterilization of "defectives", as well as prolonged race segregation and discrimination. Global warming theories are being used to promote a massive redistribution of wealth and/or a severe rationing of energy consumption (see [[Kyoto Protocol]]).
The bottom line, for a scientific theory, is of course not whether it advances anyone's agenda but whether it is true (see [[scientific method]]).