I missed one disturbing part of Mike S's statement here ... namely the
phrase "(And I would say just by doing good scientific work.)". This seems
to be saying that scientists' jobs are done once they have conducted the
research and they have no further responsibilities to the political or wider
communities ... i.e., they should mind their own business and stay in the
lab. Is Mike S really saying that scientists should NOT respond when false
information is publicized? They should NOT comment on global warming, cold
fusion, the age of the earth, or any other matter once it is in the public
domain? Their job ends in the laboratory and they should just go home and
leave the rest to others. Rather perverse view of scientists, many of whom
are also educators.
Take care
Jim
I have not been following this thread as I should but let me say this about
Jim's response.From
my experience even though scientists are also educators,I have not found
them getting involved
to solve the social problems of our times even though their discoveries can
be of tremendous help.And I think that is because of a rigid partitioning of
roles.I find this especially true of Psychology professors involved in both
teaching and research.If we look the tremendous knowledge we have about
human behavior we could be using that knowledge to effectuate change.The
attitude seems to be " I am paid to teach and do basic research and thats
it."
BF Skinner was never in the forefront of the Civil Rights movement or the
antiwar movement.
This lack of involvement is probably a charateristic of the eurocentric
model that sees education more in terms of thinking instead of doing.In the
1960s many black professionals
and teachers were told that the valuable community service they performed
could not be counted towards tenure.The fact is that community service
changes the world than teaching a class where the end result is simply
awarding grades and the professor just gets a paycheck.
The only way sciebtists and psycholists will get involved in the
participation of solving our social problems is to institute policies that
will dictate that there will be no promotion,no raises.no tenure without
continous community service. Publications at times do more for the
self-aggrandizement and grandstanding without benefits to society.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
---
To make changes to your subscription contact:
Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
