The End of Science's Peacetime

It is worth harking back to the Mertonian Norms of science[1], and seeing how we're doing.

> The four Mertonian norms (often abbreviated as the CUDO-norms) can be summarised as:

    communism: all scientists should have common ownership of scientific goods (intellectual property), to promote collective collaboration; secrecy is the opposite of this norm.[3]
    universalism: scientific validity is independent of the sociopolitical status/personal attributes of its participants.[4]
    disinterestedness: scientific institutions act for the benefit of a common scientific enterprise, rather than for specific outcomes[5] or the resulting personal gain of individuals within them.
    organized skepticism: scientific claims should be exposed to critical scrutiny before being accepted: both in methodology and institutional codes of conduct.[6]

We are not doing well on any of the four norms identified by Merton. In my opinion. If you disagree, please say why below.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mertonian_norms

This administration's actions are indeed unprecedented and hostile to science, but the author is pulling a trick - he is not speaking about science itself, but about the scientific community.

Because if he were speaking about science, he would have to concede it has been under attack for a while - when scientists were forced to make an ideological oath to diversity to get hired [1,2], were hired primarily based on adherence to that ideology [3,4,5], were told by major scientific publications to avoid or simply not publish studies that might question that ideology [6,7], disavowed studies based solely on them being used to criticize favored causes [8], were prosecuted by the state (albeit in Sweden) for true findings that harmed that ideology [9]. Papers were rejected if their results went against the liberal worldview, but methodologically-identical papers with pro-liberal results were accepted [10], and scientists were barred from accessing taxpayer-funded data if there was a risk their research might harm the dominant ideology [11].

Yes, science has been under attack for a while, but the author didn't notice because it was his ally scientists attacking it.

[1] Required ‘diversity and inclusion’ statements amount to a political litmus test for hiring - https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-universitys-new-loyalty-oat...

[2] Diversity Statements Required for One-Fifth of Academic Jobs - https://www.schoolinfosystem.org/2021/11/11/study-diversity-...

[3] Berkeley Weeded Out Job Applicants Who Didn't Propose Specific Plans To Advance Diversity - https://reason.com/2020/02/03/university-of-california-diver...

[4] A recent report from the Goldwater Institute found that 80% of job postings for Arizona’s public universities required applicants to submit a statement detailing their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. - https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/policy-report/the-new-loy...

[5] Mathematicians divided over faculty hiring practices that require proof of efforts to promote diversity - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/mathematicians-divid...

[6] Science Must Not Be Used to Foster White Supremacy - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-must-not-...

[7] Science must respect the dignity and rights of all humans - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01443-2

[8] I Cited Their Study, So They Disavowed It - https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-cited-their-study-so-they-dis...

[9] A Swedish professor proved that most rapes are committed by immigrants. The prosecutor's office took care of it - https://portal.research.lu.se/en/activities/a-swedish-profes...

[10] Human subjects review, personal values, and the regulation of social science research. - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1986-12806-001

[11] The National Institutes of Health now blocks access to an important database if it thinks a scientist’s research may enter “forbidden” territory. - https://www.city-journal.org/nih-blocks-access-to-genetics-d...