democracy and science

Informed citizens are freer citizens

The history of science is complex and the paths of some scientists have crossed dark moments in our collective memory.

However, true science needs an open society to flourish.

The scientific method needs freedom to verify the veracity of the hypotheses put forward. Scientists have a skeptical mindset that, in a structured way, tries to detect errors, for example, by replicating experiments.

For researchers, therefore, there are no dogmas or personalities above criticism.

It is no accident that when tyrants come to power, they first attack intellectuals, artists and scientists. Free thinking is never tolerated by dictatorships.

But is democracy an absolute guarantor of a rational community? Unfortunately, the pandemic has uncovered our weaknesses. In some western countries, some decisions were based on magical thinking with tragic consequences.

There are, therefore, powerful opponents of science and these are well described by the duo Carlos Fiolhais and David Marçal in the book “Science and its enemies”.

The first chapter of the work deals precisely with dictators, with emphasis on Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Hitler's obsession with the “pure race” gave rise to hideous experiences in the concentration camps.

In the Soviet Union, the agronomist Lysenko was at the origin of a pseudoscientific deviation that denied the biology of heredity initially described by the Czech Augustinian monk Gregor Mendel (1822-1884).

But the authors also explore other famous “enemies”, such as the money changers, through the explorers of fear, to the obscurantists.

In this time of relativism, when truth does not seem to exist, it is very important to be vigilant and this book helps in that exercise.

Science needs democratic freedom and, in turn, democracy needs science's reason for prosperity and well-being.

Informed citizens are freer citizens.

 

Author Luís Monteiro is a doctor

 

 



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