Science and morality

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh my god, the opportunity for pissing people off with this is TREMENDOUS!

http://www.nature.com/news/just-thinking-about-science-triggers-moral-behavior-1.13616

Public opinion towards science has made headlines over the past several years for a variety of reasons — mostly negative. High profile cases of academic dishonesty and disputes over funding have left many questioning the integrity and societal value of basic science, while accusations of politically motivated research fly from left and right. There is little doubt that science is value-laden. Allegiances to theories and ideologies can skew the kinds of hypotheses tested and the methods used to test them. These, however, are errors in the application of the method, not the method itself. In other words, it's possible that public opinion towards science more generally might be relatively unaffected by the misdeeds and biases of individual scientists. In fact, given the undeniable benefits scientific progress yielded, associations with the process of scientific inquiry may be quite positive.

Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara set out to test this possibility. They hypothesized that there is a deep-seated perception of science as a moral pursuit — its emphasis on truth-seeking, impartiality and rationality privileges collective well-being above all else. Their new study, published in the journal PLOSOne, argues that the association between science and morality is so ingrained that merely thinking about it can trigger more moral behavior.

Of course, the militant atheist reaction is also sure to be insufferable. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I know JUST WHERE TO USE THIS.

[Salty]

We need an evil hand-wringing emote.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I know JUST WHERE TO USE THIS.

Yay!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We need an evil hand-wringing emote.

Yes. Yes we do. Or just a picture of Little Orange.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

We need an evil hand-wringing emote.

Yes. Yes we do. Or just a picture of Little Orange.

That pic of all 4 kids, shoop her out on her own.  Because that look was CHILLING.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We need an evil hand-wringing emote.

Yes. Yes we do. Or just a picture of Little Orange.

That pic of all 4 kids, shoop her out on her own.  Because that look was CHILLING.

She gets that look a lot.

If anyone wants to do that, go for it! I lack suitable shoop facilities.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

We need an evil hand-wringing emote.

Yes. Yes we do. Or just a picture of Little Orange.

That pic of all 4 kids, shoop her out on her own.  Because that look was CHILLING.

She gets that look a lot.

If anyone wants to do that, go for it! I lack suitable shoop facilities.

I will have windows 7 back in about 2 weeks.  I'll get it then.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We need an evil hand-wringing emote.

Yes. Yes we do. Or just a picture of Little Orange.

That pic of all 4 kids, shoop her out on her own.  Because that look was CHILLING.

She gets that look a lot.

If anyone wants to do that, go for it! I lack suitable shoop facilities.

I will have windows 7 back in about 2 weeks.  I'll get it then.

Sweet!

[Kai]

Oh my god, the opportunity for pissing people off with this is TREMENDOUS!

http://www.nature.com/news/just-thinking-about-science-triggers-moral-behavior-1.13616

Public opinion towards science has made headlines over the past several years for a variety of reasons — mostly negative. High profile cases of academic dishonesty and disputes over funding have left many questioning the integrity and societal value of basic science, while accusations of politically motivated research fly from left and right. There is little doubt that science is value-laden. Allegiances to theories and ideologies can skew the kinds of hypotheses tested and the methods used to test them. These, however, are errors in the application of the method, not the method itself. In other words, it's possible that public opinion towards science more generally might be relatively unaffected by the misdeeds and biases of individual scientists. In fact, given the undeniable benefits scientific progress yielded, associations with the process of scientific inquiry may be quite positive.

Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara set out to test this possibility. They hypothesized that there is a deep-seated perception of science as a moral pursuit — its emphasis on truth-seeking, impartiality and rationality privileges collective well-being above all else. Their new study, published in the journal PLOSOne, argues that the association between science and morality is so ingrained that merely thinking about it can trigger more moral behavior.

Of course, the militant atheist reaction is also sure to be insufferable. 

I agree with the premise but I'm not sure the experiments they conducted lead to the conclusion. I don't have a psychology background to judge it.

The knowledge we gain through science doesn't seem to be in itself moral, but the way scientists go about pursuing that knowledge (i.e. scientific methods) are explicitly moral as they prescribe particular actions from shared values. That said, there are cheaters in every moral enterprise.

[LMNO]

Fusion, for example.

[Kai]

Fusion, for example.

Or arsenic-based life forms. Or "vaccines cause autism". Or the whole field of Evolutionary Psychology.