Effect of Scientific Pursuit on Economics and Morality
How is the pursuit of scientific knowledge adulterated by the influences of economics, morality and political beliefs?
Quite often we think of the pursuit of scientific knowledge as an exploration through which information is gathered solely from experimentation, but experimentation is only one among a variety of ways in which scientists gather information to be formulated into knowledge. Along with experiments, scientists may conduct surveys, or build on pre-existing information using assumptions and theories in order to obtain knowledge in any particular scientific medium. That which the scientists determine as knowledge, however, does not always mirror that which the public receives as new scientific knowledge. Along the path of distribution, the influences of economics, morality and political beliefs can adulterate pure scientific knowledge.
Almost all scientists seeking to gain knowledge in a new area have to overcome financial insufficiencies. Whether they need the money for lab equipment or field research or other such projects, sufficient funding is almost always unattainable. Because so little is known about this new field, few are willing to support it. Once more information is discovered and scientists acknowledge the importance of that field, more funding is gradually provided. As seen in the movie And the Band Played On, the AIDS researchers were not able to obtain adequate funding until the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic was thoroughly stressed. Even today, the amount of funding supporting AIDS research remains deficient. Typically, the same is true of any scientific study; the required funding is only provided after the scientists present data compelling enough to promote further studies in that particular area.
Next to interfere with the pursuit of scientific knowledge is political beliefs. In a society especially like the one in which we live today where everyone is striving to be "politically correct", it is in the scientists best interest to abide by such standards. Scientists would not want to release any unnecessarily controversial information for the simple reason that such information would not reach an entire spectrum of people. Certain groups of people would be avoided so that the members of these groups would not be offended or shocked by any of the information found by a scientist. For this reason, most of what we know as scientific knowledge has been "watered down" so that it would be tolerated and understood by the general public.
In And the Band Played On, the team of scientists used...