Science and Lies - A Contradiction?
The word science derives from Latin scientia, which means
"knowledge". The scientist's effort is to discover and understand how
the physical world works. To gain a deep and thorough understanding,
the existing physical phenomina are observed
and experimentations are performed to simulate these phenomina. Science, by its nature, stems from a deep desire to increase our
knowledge. Lies and fraud on the other hand are contradictions to
knowledge, understanding and science. No wonder that the trust in science is - and rightly so - deeply rooted in
most people. Karl Popper stated that the central question in science
or the philosophy of science lies in distinguishing science from
non-science.
Richard Adams, the author of the bestseller, Watership Down once said: "The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief, which is at the heart of all popular religion, that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart." This means that science of our times is independent of a religious principle, which equate that which we don't understand with God. Scientific knowledge can only be gained through objective analysis and not through personal or public belief systems. An object of research in science has to be examinable, checkable and provable.
Science, as defined above can't lie, but scientist can. Even though a scientist by definition is a person who engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge.
First of all, every scientist is working for money - has to work for money as the basis of his living. A scientist gets this money from governments, public funds, companies or other sources. Those who have a scientist on their payroll, can control directly or indirectly the results of scientists. Especially in times when many scientists are unemployed, it can be crucial for a scientists what or how he or she describes facts.