Posted on 08/06/2025 11:44:10 AM PDT by DeweyCA
There is "science," and then there is "The Science."
These are two very different things. Science is a method that is used to determine certain kids of truths and facts about how things work; "The Science" is a method of extracting money and power out of the existing economic and power structure to benefit so-called "scientists."
"The Science" is, effectively, organized crime. It bears as much relationship to "science" as a pyramid scheme does to investment. Except that, in the case of "The Science," the infrastructure that society has created to root it out is entirely ineffective because, as often as not, it is part of the scheme, or at least is dedicated to covering up the crimes.
From fabricated research to paid authorships and citations, organized scientific fraud is on the rise, according to a new Northwestern University study.
By combining large-scale data analysis of scientific literature with case studies, the researchers led a deep investigation into scientific fraud. Although concerns around scientific misconduct typically focus on lone individuals, the Northwestern study instead uncovered sophisticated global networks of individuals and entities, which systematically work together to undermine the integrity of academic publishing.
The problem is so widespread that the publication of fraudulent science is outpacing the growth rate of legitimate scientific publications. The authors argue these findings should serve as a wake-up call to the scientific community, which needs to act before the public loses confidence in the scientific process.
The study, "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient and growing rapidly," was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For years, researchers studying scientific productivity have observed that progress in science, as measured by advancements in our understanding of fundamental principles, has largely stagnated. The number of "scientists" has increased exponentially, as has the societal investment in science, yet the advancements have slowed to a trickle. Even major "advancements" such as the discovery of the Higgs Boson are not really achievements of note--the Higgs Boson had been predicted to exist for decades, and at the cost of many billions of dollars, particle physicists merely confirmed what we already expected to exist.
And that was a HUGE achievement compared to most. An entire industry was built at astronomical costs, yet we learned next to nothing. And, rest assured, they are on to the next boondoggle that will employ thousands.
Technology has advanced, of course, but most of that work is driven not by the Academy but by industry. TSMC and NVIDIA are churning out achievements at an astonishing pace, but "scientists" are spending much of their time chasing grants, writing papers nobody reads, and colluding with each other to make fake advancements.
"If we do not create awareness around this problem, worse and worse behavior will become normalized. At some point, it will be too late, and scientific literature will become completely poisoned. Some people worry that talking about this issue is attacking science. But I strongly believe we are defending science from bad actors. We need to be aware of the seriousness of this problem and take measures to address it."
An expert in complex social systems, Amaral is the Erastus Otis Haven Professor and professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. Reese Richardson, a postdoctoral fellow in Amaral's laboratory, is the paper's first author.
Anybody paying attention over the past few years has seen the practical effects at the macro level of this trend. "The Science" tells us all sorts of things that are fundamentally false, such as "stand six feet apart to prevent the spread of COVID," or "cloth masks are an effective non-pharmaceutical intervention."
Last year, we learned that the past 20 years of Alzheimer's Disease research and billions of dollars of research investment were based on scientific fraud.
It is tempting to believe that the problem is individual "scientists" who are unethical, but that is simply a fantasy. The institutional fraud is increasingly organized. Researchers have taken to colluding in order to bolster each other's careers and grant applications. They "peer review" each other's papers to boost their credibility and hide conflicts of interest to make their work seem credible.
When people think about scientific fraud, they might remember news reports of retracted papers, falsified data or plagiarism. These reports typically center around the isolated actions of one individual, who takes shortcuts to get ahead in an increasingly competitive industry. But Amaral and his team uncovered a widespread underground network operating within the shadows and outside of the public's awareness.
"These networks are essentially criminal organizations, acting together to fake the process of science," Amaral said. "Millions of dollars are involved in these processes."
And it's not just money and time wasted that is at stake. Massive, world-changing policy decisions are often based on entirely fraudulent "science." Delaying Alzheimer's research will not just cost money, but lives and years of pain for millions of people. COVID fraud led to the transfer of trillions of dollars of wealth and the fundamental restructuring of our society, and destruction of our political and social culture.
And let's not get started on climate research.
"Science" is not broken, but the fundamental institutions that are supposed to advance and support it are--meaning that most things we call science are anything but. Either the criminal organizations themselves are producing fake science, or real scientists are being misled by those who are committing fraud.
Imagine being an Alzheimer's researcher who spent 20 years being led down a rathole while watching a friend or relative slowly wither away.
Scientists and universities are no longer unaware of this problem, but worry that combating the problem will undermine the prestige and hence funding of their institutions. They often defend or cover up fake science because they want the money to keep flowing.
Any institution, over time, will become a "self-licking ice cream cone," meaning that its primary goal is to continue existing and expanding, not achieving the goal it was set up to advance toward.
Imagine working on fusion power at the ITER project and coming to the conclusion that the project is fundamentally flawed.
ITER--the multinational Tokamak fusion research project--was approved in 1985, and began construction in 2007 after years and billions of dollars in planning. Construction began in 2007, and with massive delays, it is projected to begin initial plasma creation in the mid-2030s. Maybe. It is projected to produce fusion power around 2040. And nobody knows if it will work by any practical measure.
Projections indicate that, with all costs factored in, the project will cost $65 billion, and its overruns so far are on the order of those of the California High-Speed Rail Project.
Consider the implications of not moving forward should calculations or materials scientists conclude it cannot work: generations of scientists have built careers around the project, and generations more will be funded by it. Whether it works is, to them, entirely beside the point. It is their livelihood.
Even relatively pure science faces the same issue. The James Webb telescope--a great project--was projected to cost $1 billion when approved. It ultimately cost $10 billion or more and took decades to transition from approval to launch.
Nobody ever expected it to cost $1 billion. The number was always absurd. The whole project--again, I love the Webb's work--was built on a lie.
Science is built on the search for truth, but just as Harvard's motto is "Veritas" and its real mission is making money and doing politics, most science today is about funding itself.
The amount of wasted/stolen tax money sickens me. And the people in these institutions now wonder why people no longer have high respect for them! They need to police their own colleagues and root out the grqft and the grift before people will trust them again.
So, are eggs good for you or bad for you this month?
$cience!
When science is disconnected from God, you get Godless Science. It really is that simple.
Ben Stein’s documentary “Expelled” produced YEARS ago, demonstrates this in spades.
"The 'Science™' Is Nothing but Organized Crime [facilitated by corrupt Congress's ongoing abuse of its 16th Amendment (direct taxes) powers]"
There! Fixed it.
The 16th Amendment (16A) is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for organized crime, front-ended by deep state career lawmakers, and desperately needs to be repealed imo.
PDJT47's red tsunami of supporters, evidenced by the record-breaking outcome of Trump's victory in 2024 elections, need to make the repeal of the 16A the main talking point of the 2026 midterm primaries, repealing that amendment making PDJT's legacy permanent.
More specifically, patriots need to primary all state and federal candidates for public office in 2026 midterm elections who refuse to publicly promise to support a referendum in January 2027 to propose a new amendment to the Constitution to the states to repeal 16A.
We'll call the repeal amendment Trump's Boston Tea Party II Amendment.
The 17th Amendment, popular voting for federal senators, needs to disappear too.
Once unconstitutional federal taxing and spend is stopped, the states will ultimately find a tsunami of new revenues that they probably won't know what to do with imo, healthcare, including taking care of the poor, and education on the short list of priorities.
Odd, that.
"Our democracy" is a method of extracting money and power out of the existing economic and power structure to benefit so-called "politicians".
/sarcasm
I think we need to look back at some of the political leaders with real courage who warned us about what this article calls “The Science.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address to the nation on January 17, 1961, which is often referred to as his “Military Industrial Complex” speech, issued a stark warning about the influence of federal funding of scientific research, and how this could unjustly influence public policy.
I also want to disagree with the stated concept of science as “....Science is a method that is used to determine certain kinds of truths and facts about how things work...”
As someone who trained at a university to become a scientist, I view Science as something used to formulate possible explanations for measured relationships. We know from the way our explanations of forces, particles, and space that Science does not “determine certain kinds of truths and facts.”
If it did only deal in “truths and facts” then quantum mechanics would never have been invented, because the world was described by Newtonian mechanics for so long.
It’s science vs scientism.
Federally funded *Science* in universities is 80% scam. Its main motivation is to fund salaries and some minimal new research that is not possible to replicate.
Climate research is the best example of this scam. Federal funding is paying for thousands and thousands of paychecks.
Take Toyota and Honda constantly researching how to make better ICE engines. This is real science and engineering where you must provide honest and useful results to your boss.
That's the first stage. Denying the Lawgiver while still clinging to the idea that there are Laws. The second stage is when the next generation says "If there is no Lawgiver, why should I believe in your laws?" (Especially when the 1st stagers have been manipulating "The Science" as noted in the OP above.) The result is a denial of the concept of natural law and the exaltation of personal opinion and will, leading to the whole inability to define "girl" and so on.
It's no wonder that first-stager Richard Dawkins, a veritable high priest of atheism, has been quoted calling himself a "cultural Christian," like a man who finds the ground shifting beneath him and instinctively grasps back for the stable pillar he had rejected. But the shifting ground is the inevitable result of his efforts.
Thanks; BUMP!
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