We need to understand how scientists work and research gets done. There is a lot of research out there. Even as an expert in a specific area, it is hard to keep up on the vast amount of research being published in that area. To the lay-person, the research is overwhelming to the point that most people do not bother to try and understand what is being published. They simply rely on the mainstream media to bring up nuggets of interesting findings that have immediate relevance! The reality is that you hear only a minute fraction of what is going on. Even if you watch ‘science’ shows like Nova, Horizon, or National Geographic you will still get just a smallest fraction of what is happening in the many areas of research out there in the world. Anything that isn’t of immediate interest to specific audience demographics is never mentioned, unless it is to be debunked by the mainstream scientific community or interferes with the hierarchical agenda.
There are three types of basic science: 1. Experimental research in which variables (components of the research) of interest can be studied against specific controls – this generates cause-effect conclusions. That is the addition or removal of a specific variable leads to a conclusion about that said variable within the theoretical model under study. 2. Correlational or Associational research in which tight controls are not possible, but the statistical results show good connections within the model of interest, and 3. Pseudoscience or ‘Frontier Science,’ which is interesting results that can be tied to a model, but it is on the edge of mainstream acceptance/rejection. Some Pseudoscience ‘Frontier Science,’ is provocative and looks like junk science conjured out of someone’s imagination, while other aspects of it are just beyond mainstream sciences ability to explain, understand, or measure using current scientific models. To add to this problem of what constitutes good, bad, or dubious research is the money trail. Research that interferes with the generation of money for the elites is attacked directly and discredited where possible. Think about the food industry and fat versus sugar, or the pharmaceutical industry with drugs versus homeopathic treatments, or the agricultural industry with organics versus pesticides and GMOs. The list is endless. Then add to the melee, the rigid beliefs of scientists in their own beliefs about the unquestionable efficacy of modern science (think scientism) and you get yet another layer of debunking and censoring of good, bad, and dubious research that should be put out there for open discussion.
When the system works well, the knowledge filter I discuss in my Environmental Communication book, creates a body of acceptable knowledge that we can openly discuss http://www.tissuegroup.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/ethics/hbauer/hbauer-filter.html. The problem is that it is based on neutral and unbiased critical thinking by the mainstream. However, VESTED INTERESTS for money, rigid beliefs, or just an unwillingness to open up to new ideas or other perspectives gets in the way. It is human nature to want to believe authorities have the answers, BUT WHO TO BELIEVE IS GIVING US THE TRUTH? We tend to believe people who confirm our belief systems. That’s why advertising and political campaigns, however outrageous they may seem, work so well. And why do so many people believe such an odd array of beliefs? As I said in an earlier post concerning the Truman Show film, “we accept reality as it is given to us.” Only those of us who are determined to be open minded and to think critically will break out of the boxes laid down by society to confine our thinking.
I started this discussion blog with the idea that there are a lot of things we need to understand about our world if we are to get a world in which Sustainable Living is to be a new reality. Fundamentalism of any kind has always bothered me as it shows deeply entrenched belief systems. Fundamentalists, almost by definition, want to control what and how people think! It’s almost like a self-defense mechanism about one’s definition of self to avoid cognitive dissonance! But, cognitive dissonance, rather than being an unpleasant feeling, is an avenue of finding truth about reality, the universe, and our place within it. Only by challenging our beliefs can we understand anything. In posts to come, I will present verifiable research that will take you so far down the rabbit hole and its different branches that you will never see the world or the universe in the same way again.
0 Comments