{"id":45089,"date":"2017-12-01T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T07:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=45089"},"modified":"2017-12-01T00:00:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T07:00:05","slug":"humans-and-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/12\/humans-and-science.html","title":{"rendered":"Humans and Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cavendish<\/a>
The gate of the illustrious Cavendish Laboratory at Britain\u2019s University of Cambridge \u00a0 \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I continue to point out the fairly well established fact that \u2014 on this planet, anyway \u2014 science is largely done by humans. \u00a0And that there are, among humans, pressures to conform. \u00a0Which, to some of my more fevered critics, reveals me to be anti-science and, even worse, a religious fundamentalist. \u00a0Here\u2019s a nice little piece on how the human element might affect some science \u2014 and particularly so, I think, in the so-called social sciences:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Politics of Science: Why Scientists Might Not Say What the Evidence Supports\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continuing more or less with that thought, here\u2019s a possible example of another<\/em> kind of human element in the sciences (and, in this case, specifically<\/em> in the social sciences):<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cResearchers find oddities in high-profile gender studies: \u00a0Exclusive: Strange statistics, lack of collaborators, and ethical questions remain unaddressed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, what about this<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bottom of the Barrel of Science Fraud\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now I offer a very<\/em> human story \u2014 a brazenly<\/em> human story, really \u2014 out of the world of academic science:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCan Editors Save Peer Review From Reviewers?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Breathtaking.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another fiendish weapon in my war against science is my claim that there\u2019s still a whole lot about even our own world \u2014 let alone the essentially unlimited number of exoplanets, stars, and galaxies Out There \u2014 that we don\u2019t know. \u00a0In making this insidious claim, I have allies: actual scientists<\/em>. \u00a0Consider this short but wicked article, for example:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow Many Undiscovered Creatures Are in the Ocean?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A curious little story from the history of, umm . . . medicine:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWas Lydia E. Pinkham the Queen of Quackery?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You might also read it as something out of women\u2019s history or women\u2019s studies, too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is fun:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of Pterosaur Eggs Found in Record-Breaking Fossil Haul:\u00a0The well-preserved eggs illuminate how the winged reptiles bred\u2014and how their babies may have behaved.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0reflective\u00a0German theoretical physicist explains her fear or prediction that science might actually split in two:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf science is what scientists do, what happens if scientists stop doing science?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The background to this is the growing distance between the speculative mathematical\u00a0field known as \u201cstring theory\u201d and other parts of physics that are more tightly \u2014 certainly more obviously<\/em> \u2014 tethered to experimental data and empirical research.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, is touting this as new and cutting-edge research:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat leads certain people to seek vengeance? Sadism, according to a new VCU-led study\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A small group of my most dedicated critics, however, will not be surprised at all<\/em>. \u00a0For years, they\u2019ve seen in me a perfect illustration of the toxic effects of pathological vengefulness combined with sadism and perpetual rage.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019m just pleased that I\u2019ve been able to further the cause of science.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Park City, Utah<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I continue to point out the fairly well established fact that \u2014 on this planet, anyway \u2014 science is largely done by humans. \u00a0And that there are, among humans, pressures to conform. \u00a0Which, to some of my more fevered critics, reveals me to be anti-science and, even worse, a religious fundamentalist. \u00a0Here\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHumans and Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I continue to point out the fairly well established fact that -- on this planet, anyway -- science is largely done by humans. \u00a0And that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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