[kstenerud]

It's very nice to believe in a pure system that exists outside of politics, but that's simply not how the world works, and it never will be.

There is no scientific breakthrough that has occurred sans politics. Politics choose the winners and the losers, and the realm is science is no exception.

All science is political, because the scientific institutions are made up of people, who are political. Your research project lives and dies by politics, as does your dissertation, who gets published, who receives awards, etc.

So when it comes to research of limited utility that has a nasty cadre waiting in the wings to pounce upon it, the wise person would think twice.

[timmg]

As I said to another person on this thread: if scientists let their political views override their pursuit of truth, the public will (rightly) lose faith in science.

So when you tell them to "trust the science" -- be it vaccinations, climate change or something else -- they have no reason to trust that science.

[kstenerud]

People don't have faith in inanimate things like science. They have faith in their leaders, who then lead the way in what to believe.

If those leaders believe in the integrity of the scientific institutions, their flock will follow. If they're anti-vax, their flock will follow. If they believe in some medical quackery, their flock will follow. If they believe in eugenics, their flock will follow. It's happened before.

What was fringe yesterday can become mainstream today, with the right leaders.

[Nicook]

I enjoy that you are framing this as somethings that "may" happen in the future.