On Sun, 17 Mar 2002, joanna bujes wrote:
> We have deified the scientific process at the expense of everything. If
> somebody shows me a "study," I feel like I need to know everything about
> who did it, why they did it, what their backgrounds were, what their
> assumptions were, and much, much more, before I credit a single "finding."
> What most people call science and social science, I see as mythology
> pursuing a certain academically-determined ritual.
>
Yes, I agree, scientific practice is a culture. But isn't it a culture that has allowed us to do a lot of important and interesting stuff? We are indebted to the direct and indirect products of these "academically determined rituals" every day. Science isn't important because it's uncovering the Truth once and for all; it's important because its practices and knowledge are woven into our way of life, and enriches our lives in ways we usually just take for granted.
That said, there is plenty to be wary of: science has clearly intensified capitalist economic arrangements; it has provided ideology that reinforces sexism, heterosexism, and racism; it is sometimes nothing more than useless results that lengthen vitas.
I agree that it's naive to blindly accept ideas because someone says "Scientists have reported that". However, the demonstrated usefulness of science leads me to carefully assess scientific research rather than reject it in toto.
Miles