May 16, 2007

Chasing Funding

'Forced by the existing grant system to follow such an approach, Pollack (2005) argues that scientists have defaulted into becoming a culture of believers without rethinking the fundamentals.'

Dr. Donald Miller does his homework to explain how science has been corralled by orthodoxy. The homogeneity of the models may not be questioned, or there will be no funding. The article was excellent, but his solutions are vague and non-illuminating. I wonder exactly how much science has been purchased through the rigged patent system and has been taken off the shelf - out of sight, out of mind. Government can only fund work within the established paradigm.

Perhaps the world economy will collapse tomorrow and set all the funding mechanisms back to ground zero - everybody on their own. It would help science, but not the populations of the world. But maybe we should rethink the fundamental term 'help'. Help is one of the words that can mean anything that Alice sees in her lookingglass and wants it to mean.

No comments: