I think the article makes a good point, and the obvious solution is to make a fair percentage of those conducting research switch party affiliation.
Ha, funny.
Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
11–20 of 120 posts
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#12I 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,…
Mostly true, but conservatives hardly have a monopoly on willful ignorance. Ask the stereotypical liberal what he thinks of nuclear power or GMO crops, and you're not likely to get a response based on sound science.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#13The real problem is that there aren't enough scientists to vote out Republicans.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#14I 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,…
balony. Most scientists do work that's not at all related to what the public knows about and talk about their work in ways that no one else can understand.
Your claim that scientists are being "chased" from the Republican party is ridiculous.
Unless, of course, you have data that shows they are?
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#15"Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
- Stephen Colbert
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
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...
What's with all the vitriol in your two replies? It seems like you're awfully eager to put words into people's mouths, and to stereotype a large portion of the country in a single stroke. There may be parts of your argument that are worth discussing, but you make it difficult to ferret them out from all the anger.
You know nothing of the parent post's friend. How can you make such bald assertions?
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#17I 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.
where science aligns with political belief
What if it's more an issue of political belief aligning itself against science? We've all seen the numbers on which Americans believe the earth is 5,000 years old, right?
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
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...
Your tone is rather aggressive. Why is that? In fact, it did keep him up at night that his lab was receiving grants from the government. That's why he ultimately made the decision he did.
It's impossible for someone to be completely moral with their money. All of us on H.N. have paid taxes that at some point went to pay for something that we disagree with morally. All of us have purchased a product from a company that has probably done something we find immoral or given money to someone who has. It's not shameful to pay your taxes because you like not being in prison. Self-preservation is not a bad thing. But nor is trying to put your money where your mouth is, either.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
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,…
Mostly true, but conservatives hardly have a monopoly on willful ignorance. Ask the stereotypical liberal what he thinks of nuclear power or GMO crops, and you're not likely to get a response based on sound science.
Not to mention anything related to economics, as I mentioned above. All that nonsense about "fair trade", the complaints about Chinese currency (see Chuck Schumer), and on and on, has absolutely no basis in the real science.
Re: Most Scientists in the U.S. Are Democrats. That's a Problem
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
where science aligns with political belief What if it's more an issue of political belief aligning itself against science? We've all seen the numbers on which Americans believe the earth is 5,000 years old, right?
Well clearly that's problematic too.