Intellectual Integrity is the Coin of the Realm of Science

September 27th, 2010

I try not to use this blog as a platform only to rant, but I do rant from time to time.   Things do get me upset, and strong emotions (good are bad) are good starting places for meaningful writing.   I have a strong sense of justice and fairness, so I never have a lack of things that make me mad around me in the news — there are plenty of things in life that aren’t fair.   Not too many people disagree with me when I rant about injustice.

The other thing that really presses my buttons and makes me rant are smart people, or supposedly smart people, espousing intellectually bereft positions, usually because of some political or religious bias.   Margaret Atwood’s insinuations about the moon landings was a recent example, and I’ve similarly taken to task Chris Mooney, Michael Crichton, Rocket Scientists, Orson Scitt Card, and many others.   Sometimes I’m really mad, and sometimes I just want to point out some hyperbole that shouldn’t be taken too seriously or too broadly (sorry, Charlie!).   I’ve explained my issue with “Stupid Smart People” before, but in light of some folks whining about my treatment of Atwood, I thought I’d explain where I’m coming from and why when I rant I rant so often on this topic.

Intellectual Integrity is the coin of the realm of science.   I am a trained scientist.   We are trained to sniff out inconsistency and logical falsehoods.   We are expected to do so in our own work before sharing it.   We are expected to be scrupulously honest.   We are expected to be willing to provide tests of our ideas, and to tell someone how to prove we’re wrong if we’re wrong, and to accept the results with professionalism.   In a professional context, we have the buffers of editors and referees to mediate our criticisms and how we accept being criticized.   In the world of media, public opinion, blogs, and a public without this training, louder criticism doesn’t seem too inappropriate.

In short, I have a hard time abiding bullshit when I hear it, and it’s harder to abide when it’s coming from someone who I think should know better.

There are topics for which one opinion is as good as another, or at least for which there is no clear right answer.   When it comes to science, there is often a right answer or at least clearly wrong answers.   Some of the areas in which there is no meaningful intellectual debate include the moon landings, the basic physics of greenhouse gasses, evolution, the lack of documentation for miracles and other supernatural hoo-ha like resurrections and world-wide floods, some statements about what is “impossible,” etc.

In the earlier days of the internet I used to sometimes stay up late drinking and getting mad at Creationists and other anti-science types on various internet forums.   I finally broke myself of that bad habit, but the same sort of things still get me upset, and if they’re coming from someone respectable with a reputation for being a smart person, they fester and I need to rant.   I can let Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, the Pope, and other less-than-genius peddlers of their particular brand of snake oil off the hook.   Most of the time.   We all know what they’re going to say, and we know their motives for saying it, and we know those motives trump their integrity.

I know that not everyone in the world places such value on reason and intellectual integrity, but I do, therefore I rant.   I wish more people cared about being right and being honest.   I know plenty of other qualities are important, too, probably more important in life in the grand scheme of things, but everyone has their priorities.   I hate intellectually bereft bullshit, and will call everyone on it, including myself when I realize I’ve been an idiot (and I have been on more than one occasion).

I’m idealizing a bit here, but not too much, I think.   When a scientist makes too many mistakes and doesn’t correct them or acknowledge them, when a scientist can’t be trusted to have been wholly truthful in their description of their work, analysis, and conclusions, when a scientist is perceived to have lost their intellectual integrity, they have lost everything.

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