A march for science in Washington [and everywhere in the world]!
[image credits: #ScienceMarch]
I have hesitated a lot before writing this article. I am not a big fan of politics. If you want me to discuss politics, you should either offer me a coffee, or a beer. There was no other way out… until this exception (let us hope it will be the only one).
What is going on in the US is really matter of getting worried on many different aspects. I will only focus on the science part. This being said, I do not say the other, non-science, related issues are less or more important. There is no reason to rank anything here…
The US government has last week announced to restrict science funding on the one hand, and to restrict scientists from communicating on their finding. Although we are used to funding restrictions both in the US and everywhere else in the world, the latter is totally new.
Forbidding scientists to communicate with the public makes no sense. In particular as research is mostly funded with tax-payer money… it is not up to governments to decide how we should communicate our results and whether we can communicate them.
As a result, the #ScienceMarch movement is arising. It concerns scientists, of course, but also anyone for which empirical research and science are important. Anyone who values science can join. Anyone who values the methodology and way of thinking of science can join.
American colleagues are getting organized, ready to react, and those living elsewhere, like me, are actually organizing support as well. A march of scientists is getting organized in Washington. Satellite marches everywhere in the US are getting organized as well, and in fact everywhere in the world (including Paris) too!
I will not make this story long. I think I summarized the main points above. More information can be found here:
- Website: http://www.scientistsmarchonwashington.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marchforscience
- Twitter: @ScienceMarchDC
Do not hesitate to further discuss in the comments!
Ce monde est un non-sens..
A qui le dis-tu... ;)
Regardless of one's political views, the assault on science and culture is unfortunate and unnecessary. Perhaps the silver lining is that it brings people together for their common causes. Out of that, hopefully some positive work will emerge.
I hope so. One good point that I have not mentioned in the post (but can be found on the website) is that the scientific community is trying to organize the march in pushing forward people from all possible different origins (black people, white people, muslims, latins, jews, LGTB people, etc...). To promote diversity!
Resteemed.
Thanks Claudio!
The scientists are not only being limited in their communication with the public, but also with each other. I am all for individuals being rewarded for their work and ingenuity, but when any kind of control, especially money (spit), gets in the way, we all suffer for it.
Government destroys every single thing it ever touches. Did we expect this to be any different? If the People were actually working in their own self interest, we would be limiting the ability of government to communicate with each other, not scientists, and everything the government does would be put under a microscope and posted to the internet. Nothing the government does should ever be secret, ever.
Most scientists are working for the interests of science, or the society. There are exceptions, of course, but those are not the majority.
That is true, but far from being the case today. This may just be a dream, unfortunately...
I think that most people, not just scientists, are not malignant by nature. The systems of rules they are forced to abide by create situations where decent people are forced to choose between bad options, turning good intent to negative ends. Helping people be aware of the problems is the first step to better solutions.
I agree with that.
I agree 100%
Excellent. Following.
I suspect Trump will release the business importance of Science eventually.
The question being: when...
Time is money so one would hope it happens soon:)
Resteemed for exposure to encourage discussion. Always curious what people think on issues such as this.
Thanks a lot! I am also looking forward for comments and reactions.
Open dissemination of scientific findings and ideas is a part of the foundation of what makes being a scientist so great. No government should be able to have any say in whether or not findings are able to be discussed. That is my opinion on all of this.
And to complete your sentence: no government should tell us what to work on!
Can't agree more.
I like many others have a concern about information not based on sound science being shared just to promote short term economic gain. We cant base things on someones opinion, we need sound verifiable evidence based on research and sound science.
Thanks for your comment! I fully agree!