"One should doubtless keep an open mind...though open at both ends, like the food pipe, and have a capacity for excretion as well as intake." -- Northrop Frye, 'The Great Code'
... Now that we have access to hard surveys of scientists themselves, it is becoming clear that not only do many scientists dispute the asserted global warming crisis, but these skeptical scientists may indeed form a scientific consensus.
As somebody who went thru advanced degrees in experimental engineering at a major University, I have noticed paterns, researchers love to jump on waves, it is easier to publish (funding from grant organizations rely more on volume, not quality), easier to get funding for a specific research area, and one is perceived to be bleeding edge. These waves usually last 10-20 years thus could span the a good portion of somebodies academic career, thus people get defensive. Also paper volume counts very highly to getting tenure then thru the channel to full professorship. This is the achilles heel of University based research.
I am not saying I agree with this -- I do not. It is how academia works. It leads to alot of false science. If you rock the boat -- you pay the price.
I believe it, gerry. But I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised to find that academia is any less prone to careerism, greed, corruption, etc than any other human enterprise. Though, on average, academics may be more skilled and articulate at deluding themselves otherwise
"So I have just one wish for you–the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom."
this is BAD news can Ontario finally WAKE UP http://thebiggreenlie.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/your-hydro-bill-this-month-should-be-a-doozy-thank-the-ontario-government-for-screwing-you-once-again/ fhl
Ontario, my home province for 20 years (ending 20 years ago), has slid ever farther to the political left and, worse, in the direction of lunatic anti-development environmentalism. Waking Ontario up will require a huge shift in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, that's unlikely. The West will have to continue propping up the East.
As somebody who went thru advanced degrees in experimental engineering at a major University, I have noticed paterns, researchers love to jump on waves, it is easier to publish (funding from grant organizations rely more on volume, not quality), easier to get funding for a specific research area, and one is perceived to be bleeding edge. These waves usually last 10-20 years thus could span the a good portion of somebodies academic career, thus people get defensive. Also paper volume counts very highly to getting tenure then thru the channel to full professorship. This is the achilles heel of University based research.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying I agree with this -- I do not. It is how academia works. It leads to alot of false science. If you rock the boat -- you pay the price.
gerry from gta
I believe it, gerry. But I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised to find that academia is any less prone to careerism, greed, corruption, etc than any other human enterprise. Though, on average, academics may be more skilled and articulate at deluding themselves otherwise
ReplyDeleteAnthony Watts recently re-published Richard Feynman’s 1974 CalTech commencement address “Cargo Cult Science” on the subject of academic integrity. Feynman's closing paragraph:
"So I have just one wish for you–the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom."
this is BAD news can Ontario finally WAKE UP
ReplyDeletehttp://thebiggreenlie.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/your-hydro-bill-this-month-should-be-a-doozy-thank-the-ontario-government-for-screwing-you-once-again/
fhl
good information at Steve McIntyre on (Global temperature reconstruction)
ReplyDeletefhl
Ontario, my home province for 20 years (ending 20 years ago), has slid ever farther to the political left and, worse, in the direction of lunatic anti-development environmentalism. Waking Ontario up will require a huge shift in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, that's unlikely. The West will have to continue propping up the East.
ReplyDelete