The Danger of Practicing Science Without Morality
Where do you draw the line between good science and bad ideas?
When I started pursuing a career in science writing as a freshman in college, I believed science was always authoritative. At the time, I did not understand that science is always changing. Studies can be retracted, theories can be replaced, and knowledge builds on knowledge. I took scientists’ conclusions like the fundamentalism I grew up with takes the word of the Bible: literal, unchanging, written in stone.
Science, for a short while, replaced religion in my life, holding all the correct answers as scientists passed interpretations to the public like priests. But as I studied science in school and reviewed nonfiction books about it for my blog, I started to notice faults. The solid foundation upon which I was building my adult life began to reveal its fractures.
It was then I realized that the very same flaws that led me to leave organized religion — patriarchal authority, injustice, power imbalances, and prejudiced interpretations of evidence — affected science as well. Only this time, I wasn’t interested in leaving. I stayed with the intention of learning what constitutes good science, how science has been misused by men and abused by religion from history to today, and how it can be improved for the…
