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Monday, April 12, 2010

The Scientific Method Insulates My Heart

A Method that fictionally releases my mind from subjectivity
I approach with a graphing paper notebook and pen
And evaluate.
The method seems to simplify the luster of ten thousand decisions.
The method seems to free me from criticism and fragmented affections.
Stead-eyed I plot the line.
And while the facts never speak for themselves,
The method helps them to.
And that’s the way we like it.
- - -

I was just considering how I approached my new twitter endeavor like an experiment. Putting it in the confines of research made it more manageable to me.
Does that reflect my personality, or my Grad school re-programing?
Maybe I'm thinking a little too hard ;).

But this feeling "insulation" or superiority that is attached to the label of scientist is worrisome. I just read an article about climategate by John P. Costella (linked in the title) which delves into the details of scientists abusing their power for their own ends.

This reality makes me sad. Scientists are certainly not free from bias or corruption. Could transparency and high-quality science win back the public's trust, or is it lost forever? I still think minimizing subjectivity by using a standardized method is a worthy endeavor. It's the path I'm on now...we'll see how it goes...