From: Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Date: Thu 07 Nov 2002 - 14:29:10 GMT
On 11/07/02 09:56, Vincent Campbell said this-
> Well, self-interest definitely follows, but it might be overt and
>"honest" rather than propaganda (like your own acknowledgement of pursuing a
>particular approach to see what happens when a view is stuck to for a while,
>to see how well it stands up to scrutiny, and not because you necessarily
>believe in it to that extent). But yes, largely propaganda is what occurs
>in what passes for democratic society.
I like to think that science is about as close as we can get to that
platonic democratic whole, that information and conjecture can be shared
and openly discussed, and where secrecy is not only forbidden, but a
cause of ostracization. Science is not a secret society, or a proprietary
corporation, or a coven of illuminati, but an open community of seekers.
A democracy of knowledge.
If it's for sale, it's not science. If it's a secret, it's not science.
If it can only be revealed after a price is paid, it's not science. It's
some bureaucratic system, the institution of which many of us face from
day to day, in all spheres.
>the refeudalisation of the public sphere
Sounds like a highly political perspective, but, that's okay.
- Wade
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