Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
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Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#2I don't see why that should be a problem. There is also a clear correlation between scientists and religion (or lack of belief).
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#3This kind of rhetoric disturbs me. The burden doesn't lie with the scientific community, but rather the republican party. Science is not a movement, it's a set of practices that emphasize observation and empirical analysis to interpret the world around us.
Science is there for anybody who wants to open their mind to it to enjoy. I'm sure some republicans have and assuming those numbers are correct, 1 of 3 things happened: 1) they've changed their affiliation over time (becoming either democrat or unaffiliated), 2) they didn't find what they were looking for in science and stopped practicing, 3) they're in the current minority.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#4I would claim that there are two factors that lead to the fact that most scientists are Democrats: the overall lean of universities, and the source of funding.
First, scientists tend to work in academia. It's well documented that universities are strongly slanted to the left. It seems reasonable to expect that when the left-leaning universities are looking to hire, they will tend to (possibly not intentionally) favor others like themselves.
Second, the government is the largest funder of scientific research. However, to the extent that the GOP favors a smaller government (and though they say this, they don't actually do so, but that's a different discussion), this would make one expect that those against such governmental funding would be morally bound to find other means of employment.
asking how the guy who prohibited stem-cell research
This isn't what happened. It's incredibly frustrating to me that people continually read a ban on federal funding to be a ban on research itself. But it does reinforce my point that the governmental force behind science is now perceived as the sole force behind science.
reinforce the idea that Democrats are the party of science and rationality
In the science of economics the opposite is true. For example, Democratic support of minimum wages and other price controls, and especially their opposition to free trade, fly against the wind of economic science.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#5I would claim that there are two factors that lead to the fact that most scientists are Democrats: the overall lean of universities, and the source of funding. First, scientists tend to work in academia. It's well documented that universities are strongly slanted to the left. It seems reasonable to expect that when the left-leaning universities are looking to hire, they will tend to (possibly not intentionally) favor…
to the extent that the GOP favors a smaller government (and though they say this, they don't actually do so, but that's a different discussion), this would make one expect that those against such governmental funding would be morally bound to find other means of employment.
I can support this with anecdotal evidence. I have a friend who got his Ph.D. in physics, but decided to work outside of academia. His primary reason for this was that he felt that as a libertarian it would be immoral for him to take government money. He currently works at Intel.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#6I think the article makes a good point, and the obvious solution is to make a fair percentage of those conducting research switch party affiliation.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#7I would claim that there are two factors that lead to the fact that most scientists are Democrats: the overall lean of universities, and the source of funding. First, scientists tend to work in academia. It's well documented that universities are strongly slanted to the left. It seems reasonable to expect that when the left-leaning universities are looking to hire, they will tend to (possibly not intentionally) favor…
I would claim that there are two factors that lead to the fact that most scientists are Democrats: the overall lean of universities, and the source of funding.
And the overwhelming anti-science bias within large segments of the Republican base has nothing to do with it? Yeah, it has just got to be all of those liberal universities and scientists living off the government teat... You can delude yourself all you want, but the fact is that most scientists did not just aimlessly gravitate to the Democratic party; they were chased there by pitchfork-wielding, bible-thumping, Republicans who sought to "refudiate" their work (aided in large parts by conservative think tanks that will tell any lie and spread as much FUD as possible if it helps the short-term objectives of their corporate backers.)
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#8I would claim that there are two factors that lead to the fact that most scientists are Democrats: the overall lean of universities, and the source of funding. First, scientists tend to work in academia. It's well documented that universities are strongly slanted to the left. It seems reasonable to expect that when the left-leaning universities are looking to hire, they will tend to (possibly not intentionally) favor…
to the extent that the GOP favors a smaller government (and though they say this, they don't actually do so, but that's a different discussion), this would make one expect that those against such governmental funding would be morally bound to find other means of employment. I can support this with anecdotal evidence. I have a friend who got his Ph.D. in physics, but decided to work outside of academia. His primary re…
Yeah, but it wasn't too immoral for him to take advantage of government funded university research labs in order to get that Ph.D. in the first place, right? Once he no longer needed the government's money he was free to let his strong moral position take over, but up until that point I am sure the cognitive dissonance was keeping him up at night...
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#9I don't see why that should be a problem. There is also a clear correlation between scientists and religion (or lack of belief).
I think he was trying to point out that it's a credibility problem. For instance, where science aligns with political belief, it makes it harder for scientists to argue that they're impartial when they generally share the same political beliefs with eachother.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#10I would claim that there are two factors that lead to the fact that most scientists are Democrats: the overall lean of universities, and the source of funding. First, scientists tend to work in academia. It's well documented that universities are strongly slanted to the left. It seems reasonable to expect that when the left-leaning universities are looking to hire, they will tend to (possibly not intentionally) favor…
>It's well documented that universities are strongly slanted to the left
I think that this just deflects the question. Why is it that universities are left-leaning?
The implication is that knowledge acquisition is co-related with left-leaning politics? I'm not about to go into the implications of such an assertion, lest a political flame-war break out, but I think answering that more general question will explain the more specific case of scientists.