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A_POLITICAL_SCIENCE

                                                   June 25, 2013

                                         GETTING_WARM
   In KSR's 40/50/60 series, the
   main character pushes hard to
   make the NSF a more politically        It's almost his only
   engaged entity--                       real positive effort
                                          throughout many hundreds
   There are meetings where a             of pages.
   number of people at the NSF
   discuss this.

   No one raises what should be a stunningly
   obvious point: political engagement is the
   opposite of objectivity and neutrality.

   Even if you don't believe that something
   like objectivity can actually be achieved
   by any real human institution, even if you
   don't believe that it's at least a worthy
   goal; that appearence of disengagement is
   one of the things that science has going
   for it as far as influencing human opinion
   at large goes.

       The suspicion that science has
       been corrupted by environmental           This is an all-too-plausible
       activism is one of the things that        scenario, I would say.
       the global warming denialists have
       had on their side.                                THE_HERETIC

       Surrendering all appearence of            Though this possibility
       objectivity could actually reduce         doesn't seem to me to matter
       the political effectiveness of the        that much:
       scientific establishment.
                                                 "Oh my god, what if the global
                                                 warming scenario is wrong and
                                                 we dismantle the coal industry
                                                 for nothing?"

                                                 Even in that case it
                                                 wouldn't be for nothing,
                                                 it would be saving ~20k
                                                 US lives annually.

                                                 Cleaner technology
                                                 would be a good thing
                                                 to have in any case.


                               COAL_DEATHS



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