Did you attend the march for science?

[Sea Save Foundation]

The March for Science will take place on April 22, 2017 and is based in Washington D.C. and in 400 locations all around the world. Thousands of scientists and science supporters are expected in a non-partisan “celebration of science and part of a movement to defend science’s vital role in society.” David Kaiser, a science historian at MIT says, “It’s a cluster of issues: cutbacks in basic research across many domains, the censure and censorship regarding data collected by the government or the ability of government scientists to speak, and a range of threats to academic freedom and the research process generally.” Check out number 4 to read more

 

[Skeptic14]

Hive-Mind Worship of “Science” at the March for Science Undermined the Point and Hurt the Cause

 

[Scuba Scott]

LOL
Marches do nothing to advance a cause and most of the time they hurt it.
Most of the recent marches accomplished nothing more than make the participants look like idiots or criminals and sometimes both.
Blocking traffic does not make me sympathetic to your cause. Actually, the opposite.

 

[Wookie]

LOL
Marches do nothing to advance a cause and most of the time they hurt it.
Most of the recent marches accomplished nothing more than make the participants look like idiots or criminals and sometimes both.
Blocking traffic does not make me sympathetic to your cause. Actually, the opposite.

So, you used to be ambivalent but now you are against science? Please explain further.

 

[RyanT]

The march for science encompassed a number of ideals, but one of these was to raise awareness for the proposed cuts to science funding. The Trump administration has proposed a 20% reduction to the National Institutes of Health's budget. This is the primary agency funding disease research in the U.S. The agency's budget has been stagnant and has not even kept up with inflation since 2003. Prior to this it was already woefully underfunded. Sure, big Pharma funds their own medical research, but most of it is to produce drugs that will make them a lot of money, such as erectile dysfunction drugs. Just to put it in perspective, NIH's current budget is 5.3% of what we spend on our military. The reason we are currently running out of things like antibiotics is because there's no money in it for big Pharma and we are underfunding NIH. So if you don't like science or think we shouldn't fund it, then don't ask for medical treatments when you need them.

 

[Skeptic14]

Raising awareness on public funding levels for scientific purposes is a worthy cause and important discussion.

But, in my opinion and I'm clearly not the only one with the opinion, very little meaningful discourse will be generated by political groups rallying a mostly scientifically illiterate mob to rhythmically chant catchy phrases.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Writing to Congress to support causes http://cqrcengage.com/ram/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=285593 does much more good than blocking traffic and pepper-spraying opponents to your cause. The marches shown each week on the news seem to be mostly about a chance to get off work and cause civil disobedience.

 

[RyanT]

I marched in DC and virtually everyone I met was a scientist. It certainly was not a scientifically illiterate mob. @MaxBottomtime, I agree that writing to congress is important, I do that too! I think one of the important things to take away from the marches is that scientists generally tend to be introverts. We really like to do our work and historically have been very reluctant to engage in politics, public outreach, etc. And certainly that's a fault of ours! So an important aspect of the marches was simply to get scientists to be more vocal.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I think part of the response by many was due to the media coverage of what seems to be weekly protest marches. They are usually nothing more than crowds pulled together by social media who believe there is only one correct side to every issue. If a criminal is shot by police, it is police brutality. If a city needs bike lanes, thousands believe it's okay to block entire downtown areas with bike traffic. So many of these marches include a small element who break windows, set fires and loot, yet that's what gets media coverage. I don't believe marches do anything to further a cause because of the intelligence of many of the marchers themselves.

 

[Skeptic14]

The marches shown each week on the news seem to be mostly about a chance to get off work and cause civil disobedience.

I agree, and I would add that they provide a group for people seeking a sense of belonging and identity foremost.

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Well before activism, clicktivism, and rhythmic protest chanting were a thing religion ruled the world. It was very dangerous to be a heretic and go against the grain and seek rational understanding through means beyond divine authority.

But a lot serious people did serious work, some to their personal detriment, and over the centuries that has changed and now we have a world that apart from a few areas of the globe are no longer dominated by religion but instead rationality and empirical principles thrive.

It is pretty difficult to take a march for science today seriously being familiar with the scientific revolution from three centuries prior.

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And how are we defining/identifying scientist? Anyone with a bs in some field of science?