Science Reformers

7. Massively Parallel Roles & Tasks

Science Reformers focus on holding scientists and technical organizations to high professional standards and protecting them from political pressures that undermine the quality of their work. There are increasingly frequent stories, it seems, of situations in which scientists have "faked" or misinterpreted data for their own or a particular group's benefit, as well as stories about a replication crisis in several disciplines. There are also stories of subtler forms of bias associated with political decisions about what questions to and not to investigate and what to publish and what to reject. These are all problems that must be strenuously policed. They undermine the credibility of the entire scientific community, and have led an unfortunately large number of people to reject most, or even all, scientific findings. This has done a great deal of damage to the profession of science and the ability of the public to take advantage of scientific expertise. It also seriously impedes society's ability to address its most pressing problems, as all of them, in one way or another, depend on science to sort through the complex issues involved.

Science reformers are people and organizations who are trying to reverse this damage by policing the scientific industry to make sure that studies are, indeed, properly formulated, conducted, and reported. These include those who are advocating reforms to the academic publishing process, recommitting universities to a politically neutral search for the truth, and challenging requirements that scientists make political "positionality statements." Beyond these relatively modest reforms, there are also bold initiatives like the University of Austin's attempt to build a restructured university that is guided by the values of intellectual freedom and pluralism. Unlike many other universities that have rigorous speech codes and limits to what is "acceptable" research and teaching, the University of Austin "strives to build and sustain a community based on the lively clash of ideas and opinions."