Data and Ideology of Science

A recent editorial in Nature¹ urged scientists to rise above politics and restate their value to society. It is a suggestion that may work if what is of value could be agreed upon by scientists, their paymasters and ordinary citizens. Generating data or evidence-based knowledge is what scientists are supposed to do. That probably is the enduring value of science. However, to the two biggest paymasters of the scientific profession – Government and industry – that kind of value means little. Science that delivers technologies for war or profit, preferably both, is of value to them. To complicate matters, to an average citizen all data-based knowledge has now become a domain for ‘experts’. Consequently, when bad or bogus knowledge is touted as ‘scientific’ or ‘expert advice’, the value of all knowledge is undermined. Unfortunately, in the post-truth world ‘expert advice’ is often nothing but lies cloaked in bad or fraudulent statistical data. A closer examination of the ideology that drives this rampant misuse of data in the name of science is therefore necessary.