Science doesn’t work despite scientists being asses. Science works, to at least some extent, because scientists are asses. Bickering and backstabbing are essential elements of the process. Haven’t any of these guys ever heard of “peer review”?
There’s this myth in wide circulation: rational, emotionless Vulcans in white coats, plumbing the secrets of the universe, their Scientific Methods unsullied by bias or emotionalism. …
[But science is] not a hippie love-in; it’s rugby. Every time you put out a paper, the guy you pissed off at last year’s Houston conference is gonna be laying in wait. Every time you think you’ve made a breakthrough, that asshole supervisor who told you you needed more data will be standing ready to shoot it down. You want to know how the Human Genome Project finished so far ahead of schedule? Because it was the Human Genome projects, two competing teams locked in bitter rivalry, one led by J. Craig Venter, one by Francis Collins — and from what I hear, those guys did not like each other at all.
This is how it works: you put your model out there in the coliseum, and a bunch of guys in white coats kick the shit out of it. If it’s still alive when the dust clears, your brainchild receives conditional acceptance. It does not get rejected. This time.
Peter Woods on the scientific method. I love this quote. So many people’s perception of science is just totally backwards. (via penllawen)
Which of course is another reminder that we need a complete overhaul of science education, especially in America. It’s not about memorization and rote regurgitation, it’s about competition and game playing. Starting from an early age, we should put together kids in teams of three to five - trying to pay especial attention to personality types in order to mix the shy cooperators in with the brash competitive ones - and have them compete. Month-long (or longer) tracks of theory, experimental design, experiment, recording, and reporting of results. Those should be followed by a week or two of every other team trying to repeat, or rip apart the conclusions of their peers.
Put the fun back into discovery and teach the children how the sausage is really made. This has the added advantage of exciting those kids who thrill to competition and lets them know there is a whole wide world out there in which they can live and work and keep their competitive juices flowing.
(via coyotesqrl)Yeah. What he said.
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