KARL JASPERS FORUM

N67 (to N66)

PUBLISH OR PERISH
by Zvi Lothane
30 July 2006, posted 5 August 2006

Response to some points in Harnad' s paean to science..

Knowledge is power, Francis Bacon, the founder of experimental science proudly declared. Power , dear Steven, is missing in your paean to science. But today science is the new church, its power is immense, and tied to powerful pecuniary interests. Science pays off to the tune of billions of dollars, from governments to grand industries, and grants are being withdrawn from humanistic enterprises and funneled to science. For example, in Germany, where I am currently visiting professor at Heidelberg University, departments of history of medicine are being methodically decimated and its professorships demolished.

Why do you want to promote science at the expense of the arts ? Why ?

Now look at the responses in caps below.

As Science is mere structured common sense,

her means but trial-and-error made intense,

the only virtue setting her apart,

and raising her above (some think) mere Art,

is her convergence ever on consensus:

YOU ERR IN SUGGESTING THAT SCIENCE IS BASED ON CONSENSUS. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS NO CONSENSUS ABOUT THE DELIVERANCES OF NEUROSCIENCE OR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: SOME NEUROSCIENTISTS IN ARGENTINA HAVE CONTESTED KANDEL'S ARGUMENTS

collective, self-corrective her defenses.

A flagellant, she boldly does defy

Reality her schemes to falsify.

COMMONSENSE PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS FALSIFY CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS OF NEUROSCIENCE

And yet this noble jousting were in vain,

and all this pain would yield no grain of gain

if Science were content, a shrinking violet,

her works from all the world 'ere to keep private.

Instead, performance public and artistic,

restraining all propensities autistic,

perhaps less out of error-making dread,

than banal need to earn her daily bread.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 'AUTISTIC' PSYCHOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE HUMAN BEING IS THE ABILITY TO HAVE FANTASIES: DO YOU WANT TO ELIMINATE THOSE AS WORTHLESS ENDEAVORS? DONT YOU REALIZE THAT THESE VERY ABILITY TO FANTASIZE AND TO DREAM THAT ANIMATE SCIENCE AS WELL ?

For showbiz being what it is today,

work's not enough, you've got to make it pay.

What ratings, sweeps and polls count for our actors,

no less than our elected benefactors,

for Science the commensurate equation

is not just publication but citation.

FALSE AGAIN: SCIENCE IS THE BIGGEST MONEY MAKER TODAY, PERHAPS AFTER MUNITIONS INDUSTRIES AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL GIANTS

The more your work is accessed, read and used,

the higher then is reckoned its just dues.

Sounds crass, but there may be some consolation,

where there's still some residual motivation

to make a difference, not just make a fee:

the World Wide Web at last can make Science free.

SOUNDS CRASS INDEED: YOU PAYS YOUR PENNY AND YOU TAKES YOUR CHOICE -- AS ALDOUS HUXLEY USED TO SAY.

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Zvi Lothane