once we reach the point at which the templeton foundation - or any
other private sponsor for that matter - is the main source of funding
in a certain area of science it would be time for society to react.
react by outdoing the private source and thus claiming the research
topic in question firmly back into the public domain.
if society chooses to be oblivious - well - then so be it. research
in that area will then not be driven by public interest but by private
interest. ultimately it is just a reflection of the value commonly
assigned to a specific field.
what i hope this will ultimately achieve is to ring the alarm bell
in society that no private organization should take over research
funding and direction.
if this will not happen - well - then we are kind of lost anyways.
and funding no matter what agenda behind is still better than no
funding, since i firmly believe that ultimately the truth (i.e. true
statements about reproducible empirical relations) will ultimately
prevail and nothing else.
Chris says the truth consists of "true statements about reproducible empirical relations." He should read William Golding's Nobel lecture:
"When I consider a universe which the scientist constructs by a set of
rules which stipulate that this construct must be repeatable and
identical, then I am a pessimist and bow down before the great god
Entropy. I am optimistic when I consider the spiritual dimension which
the scientist’s discipline forces him to ignore."
October 11th, 2007 at 1:38 am
once we reach the point at which the templeton foundation - or any
other private sponsor for that matter - is the main source of funding
in a certain area of science it would be time for society to react.
react by outdoing the private source and thus claiming the research
topic in question firmly back into the public domain.
if society chooses to be oblivious - well - then so be it. research
in that area will then not be driven by public interest but by private
interest. ultimately it is just a reflection of the value commonly
assigned to a specific field.
what i hope this will ultimately achieve is to ring the alarm bell
in society that no private organization should take over research
funding and direction.
if this will not happen - well - then we are kind of lost anyways.
and funding no matter what agenda behind is still better than no
funding, since i firmly believe that ultimately the truth (i.e. true
statements about reproducible empirical relations) will ultimately
prevail and nothing else.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Chris says the truth consists of "true statements about reproducible empirical relations." He should read William Golding's Nobel lecture:
"When I consider a universe which the scientist constructs by a set of
rules which stipulate that this construct must be repeatable and
identical, then I am a pessimist and bow down before the great god
Entropy. I am optimistic when I consider the spiritual dimension which
the scientist’s discipline forces him to ignore."