Difference between revisions of "Consensus science"
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m (Reverted edits by ConservaTroll (Talk) to last version by Aschlafly) |
(California is broke and plainly has wasted billions on a quixotic errand for political correctness. The real progress with stem cells comes, happily, in less controversial--and less well funded areas.) |
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| + | '''Consensus science''' is the illogical position, often taken by [[liberals]], that the truth in science is whata majority of scientists claim it is. | ||
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| + | Technology writer [[George Gilder]] observed in an article entitles "Another Flop for 'Consensus Science'":<ref>http://www.discoverynews.org/2010/02/another_flop_for_consensus_sci031561.php</ref> | ||
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| + | :In California, the state sold the public on a gauzy multi-billion dollar vision of miracle cures that supposedly were just around the corner. The warning signs about the California Prop. 71 embryonic stem cell program were virtually ignored by the mainstream media. ... [Now] California is broke and plainly has wasted billions on a quixotic errand for political correctness. The real progress with stem cells comes, happily, in less controversial--and less well funded areas. | ||
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Science writer [[Michael Crichton]] said: | Science writer [[Michael Crichton]] said: | ||
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*"Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. | *"Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. | ||
| − | *"Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus." | + | *"Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus." <ref>http://www.sitewave.net/news/s49p1835.htm</ref> |
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| + | == References == | ||
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| + | <references/> | ||
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[[category:science]] | [[category:science]] | ||
Revision as of 19:37, February 10, 2010
Consensus science is the illogical position, often taken by liberals, that the truth in science is whata majority of scientists claim it is.
Technology writer George Gilder observed in an article entitles "Another Flop for 'Consensus Science'":[1]
- In California, the state sold the public on a gauzy multi-billion dollar vision of miracle cures that supposedly were just around the corner. The warning signs about the California Prop. 71 embryonic stem cell program were virtually ignored by the mainstream media. ... [Now] California is broke and plainly has wasted billions on a quixotic errand for political correctness. The real progress with stem cells comes, happily, in less controversial--and less well funded areas.
Science writer Michael Crichton said:
- "Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.
- "Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus.
- "Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus." [2]