But this has all changed.Whilst science is still a very much respected field, the general public has
ceased to treat scientists with the respect they held for them less than half
a century ago.
There are many reasons why such respect has declined; the realisation that most
science is mundane research, carried out by under paid underlings, and there
are very few real scientific break throughs. Those that do occur are either
so technically complex that the man in the street has no chance of understanding
what has been achieved or what it means.
But, above all else, the respect of science has been destroyed by so called
scientists attempting to bullshit the public.
These scientists have no one to blame for their profession's decline than
themselves.
The rot set in after the Second World War when scientists were pushed
into the television adverts to tell us why such a company's product was better
than the opposition's.
When people started questioning the statistics and validity of such claims
as, "Nine out of ten whatever preferred Product X over all rival's
products", the scientists were brought down along with the marketing
luvies.
Whilst such claims may have been nothing more than made-up hype, that these
were presented as facts, properly researched, presumably by those who knew
the science of such research, made the fictitious researchers, and real
scientists look as bad as those creating the falsehoods.
With a realisation that scientists may not always be telling the truth, and
their opinions could be bought for money, or were formed by political rather
than factual beliefs, it became prudent to look at what scientists told us in
a new light.
No longer was every word uttered by a scientist taken at face value, as an
indisputable fact, but every statement was questioned, the motive for its
origination queried and people dared to ask, "But what about ... ?"
That it became quite easy to find two, well respected, and eminent scientists
who were vocal and vociferous in their arguments on opposing sides of some
scientific revelation, re-inforced people's views that one, and probably both
of them, didn't know what they were talking about.
When scientists started to make claims, which the public knew weren't true,
they knocked the final nail into their self made coffins.
With the uncovering of hushed up information relating to near disastrous
incidents at Nuclear Power Stations the
claims that Nuclear Power was completely safe looked, to say the least
suspicious.
In the aftermath of the British Thalidomide tragedy, the claims that Thalidomide
had been tested and was completely safe rang hollow.
Environmental and social disasters, which just couldn't happen, cast doubt upon
anything a scientist ever uttered.
Other revelations about what scientists had been up to, in the name of science,
made many cringe and query the validity and purpose of such research.
The popular joke, that two universities spent millions of pounds researching
the purpose of the penis glans, presenting opposing papers that, on one hand,
it was to satisfy the woman during intercourse and, on the other, that it was
to satisfy the man, whilst an independent group of individuals spent the
grand sum of 5 quid to discover it was actually to stop the hand falling off
the end of the penis, says a lot about the perceptions of scientific research.
The only scientists the people began to trust were those who predicted
gloom and disaster, more failings and had the guts to say that not everything
was as hunky dory as others would like us to believe.
Condemnation from the establishment, that these weren't scientists but cranks
or kooks, did nothing to enhance their reputations as the predicted disasters
and problems materialised.
It would be a rare scientist indeed who would now make some great proclamation
of a great scientific discovery and didn't expect their announcement to
be taken with a pinch of salt by the public and be subject to intense
scrutiny and analysis.
One would expect therefore that scientists would be incredibly cautious in
what they say and publicly announce, that they'd take extreme care in making
sure that what they have to say was correct and would do everything they could
to prevent their own reputations being ridiculed and the world of science
being dragged further into the mud.
But no.
Still advertisements drag forth real and pseudo scientists to tell us how
a product has been, "Scientifically tested", as if anyone really believes that
such testing really proves anything.
Governments produce scientific reports which on one hand tell us the food we
eat is safe but that from another country isn't whilst those attacked produce
their own scientists who argue the case the other way.
And, to top it all, some scientists continue to talk such c--p that it really
is hard to hold any respect for their profession at all ...
Researchers at The University of Wales, Cardiff, UK, with absolutely no thought
about how their message would be received, excelled at making Wales, once more,
the the laughing stock of Britain by announcing that
the worse flu outbreak in Britain was caused, wait for it ... , by cosmic
dust.
This dust was apparently blown into the atmosphere from comets as they passed
the Earth by high-energy Sun spots whereby people who came into contact with it
fell ill.
Whilst there may well have been little investigation done into the effect of
such cosmic dust and the effects of sun spot activity, both valid areas of
scientific research, the University of Wales informs us that the flu was
caused because the cosmic dust either contained the flu virus or DNA which
caused the flu to develop.
So not only have they solved the riddle as to why so many people were laid up
in bed, losing the will to live, they have also, I imagine, become the first
to discover life, albeit unintelligent, in space.
Perhaps they have and perhaps they're right but the response from the public
was about as credulous as had they been told that Triffids really were landing
on the planet.
And the scientists who, just days later, announced that they would be starting
research into why people are obese should be hardly surprised if the public
respond by saying that they know it's because some people eat far too many
chocolates and stuff their faces at every opportunity with deep-fried Mars
bars, deep-fried pizza, deep-fried steak pies and gateau
and that the costly research was a waste of money and pointless; you could have
asked anyone in a local public house and they'd have provided the answer for
under a tenner.
Yes, we all know that in some people there's a glandular problem, and perhaps
there is a gene which makes people pre-disposed to putting on weight, but that
alone doesn't account for the fact that 40% of the British population is
clinically obese.
Maybe they'll tell us, again, that metabolism plays a great part in obesity,
perhaps they'll reiterate that some sugars are worse than others, maybe they'll
highlight the fact that low-calorie and diet drinks actually increase the body's
hunger for food, and the manufacturers will drag their scientists out to
argue that's not true.
Perhaps they'll tell us that we don't get enough exercise, spend too long in
cars and sitting at desks. Perhaps it'll be just that we eat too much.
Telling us something we already know is the height of insulting our
intelligence. Spending vast sums of money coming to a foregone conclusion even
more so.
Research such as this, so publicly announced before any new conclusions are
reached, does nothing to enhance the opinion of how science can help us and
does nothing to improve the reputations of scientists involved in such studies
or otherwise.
Science, and scientists, have become a joke to most people. To improve their lot
they have to regain their dignity, stop delivering inane research results and
produce something which really is fantastically useful for humanity as a whole.
There are undoubtedly many scientists beavering away in small research centres
and labs around the world doing exactly this. Their work is being usurped by
the high-profile, publicity grabbing research which is devaluing what they do.
Theirs is not a happy lot.
Scientists tell us that they have the solutions to solve the problems that the
planet faces, that their science is proven and safe and that we should embrace
it.
I predict it will be something the scientists tell us is completely safe which
will eventually end the world we live in.
It's going to be a hard struggle for scientists to convince many of us
otherwise.
