Because of a class on science and religion that I have been writing the curriculum for and teaching this semester much of my personal study has been along scientific lines. As I have studied I have come to see something that really bothers me. So many scientists spend their time and energy trying to make data fit what their theories rather than letting curiosity drive their efforts. And don't try to tell me that this is following the scientific method because I don't believe this. Today I was researching what occurred between the work of Samuel G. Morton and Stephen Jay Gould's ridicule of Morton's work. In going to extremes to show that Morton falsified his work due to bias, Gould himself proved to be biased toward the other extreme and rather embarrassed himself by being more political than scientific. A few scientists and reviewers went so far as to call Gould's work "propaganda". Gould spent his energy working to discredit another scientist and making him look ridiculous rather than taking Morton's work and reworking it towards greater understanding and that is unfortunate. Luckily other scientists took the work of both men and gave us a better understanding of the genetics of intelligence. I read about this and so many other instances where scientific efforts seem to be to jump so immediately to proving a theory that the methodology is compromised and that is so frustrating. I don't know how, but it would be so wonderful to have a full return to following the true scientific method and to a real, juicy curiosity as what drives our science.
The more that I have thought about this, I realize that this is not merely a problem with science, this is a problem across the board. This kind of closed mindedness runs throughout our culture and this is so frustrating to me. Religious folks spend their energy finding one or two scriptures with the right translation to say just what they want to hear from God and that is that, they have found what they need and they are done searching. In the political realm the same thing occurs, someone finds one line or amendment in the Constitution that says what they want it to say and that is what they cling to and lose the vision of the big picture. I could go on and on but you get the idea.
Being open minded is not easy, it can be downright scary, but we need to be as open to new ideas and expanded facts as possible. I am not one of those "back in the good old days" people, I like my modern conveniences, but I do wish that we could return to as sense of curiosity, wonder, and discovery as motivators and move beyond the overwhelming need to BE RIGHT AT ANY COST. So there.
